The waters around the Hawaiian islands are home to more than thirty species of cone snails from the genus Conus, much admired for the beautiful patterning. I was happy to find the one above washed up on the shore of a beach in Kauai. Ah, but there's more to this beauty than dazzles the eye. These sea snails are venomous, though only a few species have been known to cause human fatalities. The Hawaiian term for them is pupu 'ala as well as pupu ponuinui, meaning dizzy shell. Their venom is used defensively, but also to capture prey. Different species of cone snails hunt different prey: some eat marine worms, others snails, and some are piscivorous, that is, they eat small fish (these are the more venomous ones). They inhabit shallow to mid-level waters, where their shape helps them to bury themselves in the sand or under the rock and rubble. At night, they hunt. Spectacularly. | While hunting techniques vary from species to species, in general, the siphon of the snail acts like a nose, waved about in order to sniff out chemicals given off by potential prey. Once located, the snail extends its proboscis which contains the harpoon-like apparatus to sting its prey - thus allowing the snail to do this without ever leaving its shell. The quick acting venom then renders the prey helpless while the snail's mouth extends and can actually envelop and hoover up the hapless victim. But here's the silver lining: cone snail venom may hold medical promise in such areas as pain management. |
7 Comments
Joh
6/24/2013 04:54:00 am
WOW! KILLER /\!
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Peter Arioli
10/24/2015 07:21:32 pm
There haven't been any human fatalities from Conus stings in Hawaii that I am aware of. There have been, however several injuries, most all of them attributable to Conus textile. There was a report of a sting in the Waikiki area from a Conus imperialis in 1969, but I don't know if this was a case of mistaken identity or not.
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Ann
8/11/2019 06:06:29 pm
There was an episode of Hawaii 5-0, the original series with Jack Lord, in which the bad guy used a cone snail as a murder weapon.
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Tony Arioli
12/14/2019 12:23:59 pm
I believe that episode of Hawaii 50 was called "Cloth of Gold," which is another name for the Textile Cone, a rather aggressive stinging cone shell that occurs in the islands, but isn't restricted there.
frosty
4/8/2019 04:20:43 pm
wow that pretty cool how do they get these photos
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Jim Peck
9/5/2019 12:38:14 pm
Saw zebra blennies in Queen's bath on Kauai while snorkeling. At first glance they looked like large tadpoles with their frog-like mouth and moved around with their front fins like they were ready to crawl out on land. They let me get very close before moving away. Asked around but didn't identify them until I got home (NJ) and looked at the internet. Loved snorkeling at Ke'e beach and thought Secret Falls was just the most beautiful place.
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Tara
12/21/2020 11:52:37 pm
Thank you! I came here looking to identify a unique creature I found on the rocks of the Napili shore. Thanks to you, I now know it's a helmet urchin
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