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The most venomous snail in the world, one drop can kill 20 people

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Marbled Cone snail possesses an extremely splendid appearance, but their body contains more than 200 pharmacologically active substances and a single drop of its venom can kill 20 adults.
The creature we are talking about here is the Cone Snail, also known as the cone snail, is a marine gastropod mollusk, so far more than 70 species have been found along the coast. along the coast of China and there are more than 1,000 species discovered in the world.

Their venom is made up of a mixture called peptide conus. Each of them will have a unique venom formula. More than 50,000 conus peptides have been discovered, they are all neurotoxins and no vertebrate species on our planet possesses this form of venom. Marbled Cone snail possesses an extremely splendid appearance but is considered the most venomous snail species on the planet. They are purely carnivores and predators, feeding mainly on sea worms, small fish, mollusks and even other cone snails. It can release venom at any time in its life, and this species is always ready to wipe out all living things around it. A cone snail, like most snails, moves slowly. However, its attack is extremely quick and powerful. They use a sophisticated detection system to find their prey. Snails eat fish, sea worms or other snails if food sources are scarce. Their secret to hunting doesn’t lie in movement speed, instead they hunt using venom and develop an extremely efficient venom system. Because of their slow movement speed, cone snails often hunt by “holding a tree waiting for a rabbit”, which will lie in the sand at the bottom of the water, only revealing its long tubular mouth and tentacles in the sand. Once it detects prey such as a small fish or something passing by, it will use strong muscle contractions to shoot the tongue connected with the venom gland from its long tubular mouth at lightning speed and “close the gap”. nail” into the body, injecting poison into the prey. This venom will paralyze prey within seconds and die instantly. To prevent their prey from struggling, some species of snails have created a toxin that can reduce pain and anesthetize the prey’s nerves, making the prey feel no pain and slowly die without even realizing it. know. When the prey is fixed and no longer struggling, the conch will withdraw the “hook” (toothed tongue), pulling the paralyzed prey into the mouth. One study estimated that this species alone caused 36 deaths. Divers are afraid to face the Marbled Cone snail. They are very beautiful, just like other normal snail shells, but when hit, they are very fast and even with diving gloves, the snail’s proboscis can still penetrate. A few microliters of the toxin in a snail’s saliva is strong enough to kill at least 10 people. Once the poison enters your system, you may not feel symptoms for several minutes or days. Although the bite is not painful, you may feel numbness or tingling. However, then your whole body may shake, your eyes will go blurry, and your breathing may stop after just a few hours. However, the function of this extremely toxic substance is only for self-defense and to catch prey, but they never actively attack humans. Up to now, about 30 people have died from accidental contact with the marbled cone’s spit. The life of the snail shell collector will end when the sharp hook of this snail pierces the person. The most powerful poison called neurotoxin will temporarily paralyze your nerves. After that, the respiratory organs will close, making it difficult for you to breathe and this can be the worst part. Symptoms of a snail sting include local pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, and vomiting. Symptoms may appear immediately or slowly over several days. In severe cases, muscle paralysis, vision changes and respiratory failure can lead to death. The various neurotoxins contained in cone snails are called cono toxins. In addition to being toxic to humans, in this venom mixture there are many beneficial substances, which can work accurately and quickly on the human nervous system without causing side effects. Therefore, this snail can also open up a new medical future for humans. For example, cono peptides have the potential to prevent spasticity caused by spinal cord injury and may help diagnose and treat small cell lung cancer. Conotoxins can immediately generate nerve signals that reduce heart rate or turn off pain receptors. Ziconotide isolated from it is used as an analgesic. It is said to be 1000 times more effective than morphine and not addictive. Conotoxin ACV1, isolated from Victoria cone cone in Australia, is more effective than morphine and Ziconotide, has a longer analgesic effect and is convenient to use without side effects. It has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of post-operative and neurological conditions, and even accelerates the recovery of nerve damage, and is expected to be developed as a treatment for anxiety. , Parkinson’s disease, muscle tension and hypertension.

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