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Date: | Fri, 5 Mar 1999 13:03:49 -0500 |
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Although all Conus have a poison injecting apparatus, only a few are
considered dangerous to human beings. The key is what they eat.
Conus species that feed on small worms and other invertebrates have a
radular "dart" just large enough and a venom just powerful enough to
kill such small feeble prey. Such cones are harmless to people. It
is the fish-eating cones that are dangerous. They have a large dart
(more like a small harpoon). Also, they either have a more potent
venom, or inject a much greater dose of venom, or both (I'm not sure
which of these best describes the actual fact). This enables them to
rapidly incapacitate a living fish. It also makes them dangerous to
humans. The "big three" of course are Conus geographus, Conus
striatus, and Conus textile. But there are a number of others that
are potentially dangerous, even though they have not caused human
deaths. Conus tulipa is one that comes to mind, and a few others - I
don't have reference materials here at work. I wouldn't expect Conus
perplexus to be dangerous. The fish-eating cones tend to have a wide
aperture, which enables them to swallow a fish after harpooning it.
One word of caution - it is always possible that a particular person
might have an individual sensitivity to Conus venom, just as some
people are hypersensitive to bee venom. In such a case, any cone
capable of penetrating the skin could theoretically be dangerous.
Paul M.
Rhode Island, U.S.A.
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