Cone snails

More than 70 species of cone shells are found in the warmer waters of Australia, several of which are known to be dangerous to man. They are attractive shells and may be picked up by children or visitors to the reef who may be unaware of the danger.

• Cone shells

Cone snails are predatory gastropods that live in shallow reef waters.They kill their prey with venom which they inject via radula teeth like small harpoons. The venom consists of numerous neurotoxic peptides that act pre- and post-synaptically to give rise to neurological symptoms of weakness, lack of co-ordination and disturbance of vision, speech and hearing. Less common systemic symptoms include nausea and generalized pruritis. Local symptoms of pain, swelling and numbness are common. Severe envenomation may result in death secondary to respiratory muscle paralysis.

Dangerous species found in Australia include C. geographus, C. stercusmuscarium, C. magus, C. textile, C. omaria, C. tulipa, and C. striatu.

Pressure immobilisation first aid should be applied and left in place until resuscitation facilities are available, as assisted ventilation may be required. There is at present no antivenom for cone shell stings. The wound should be regarded as potentially contaminated, and tetanus prophylaxis should be updated if required.

Related Treatments

• Cone snails, Treatment for stings

Related Venomous creatures

• Marine creatures, Australian

Books

• Cotton, B. C., Australian Recent and Tertiary Species of the Molluscan Family Conidae, Adelaide, 1958, 4 pp. [ Details... ]
• Cotton, B. C. and Godfrey, F. K., The Molluscs of South Australia. Part I the Pelecypoda, Government Printer, Adelaide, 1938. [ Details... ]
• Edmonds, C., Dangerous Marine Creatures, Reed Books, Frenchs Forest, NSW, 1989. [ Details... ]
• Iredale, T. and McMichael, D., A Reference List of the Marine Mollusca of New South Wales Memoir XI, Australian Museum, Sydney, 1962. [ Details... ]
• Rippingale, O. H. and McMichael, D. F., Queensland and Great Barrier Reef Shells, Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1961. [ Details... ]
• Stackhouse, J., Australia's Venomous Wildlife, Paul Hamlyn, Sydney, 1970, 144 pp. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Abbott, R. T., 'Mollusks and Medicine in World War II', in 1947 Ann. Rept. Smithsonian Inst., 1948, pp. 325-38. [ Details... ]
• Adams, A. and Reeve, L., 'Mollusca', in Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, 1850, pp. 1-87. [ Details... ]
• Hedley, C., 'Mollusca', in The Australian Encyclopaedia, vol. 2, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1926, pp. 132-136. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., 'Venomous Marine Snails of the Genus Conus', in Hugh L. Keegan and W. V. MacFarlane (eds), Venomous and Poisonous Animals and Noxious Plants of the Pacific Region, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1963, pp. 83-96. [ Details... ]

Conference Papers

• Kanna, K. and Hirai, M., 'On the Toxicity of Neptunea intersculpta Sowerby', in Ann. Meeting Japan. Soc. Sci. Fish, Tokyo, Japan, Japan, 1956. [ Details... ]
• McMichael, D. F., 'Dangerous Marine Molluscs', in International Convention on Life Saving Techniques, Sydney, March 11 th-20th, 1960, The Committee of the 1960 International Convention on Life Saving Techniques, 1963, pp. 74-80. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• Allan, Joyce, 'Australian Shells. Augur and Cone Shells', Aust. Mus. Mag., vol. 6, no. 10, 1938, pp. 328-336. [ Details... ]
• Asano, M., 'Studies on the Toxic Substances Contained in Marine Animals. 1. Locality of the Poison of Neptunea Arthritica Bernardi', Bull. Jap. Soc. Sci. Fish., vol. 17, 1952, pp. 283-287. [ Details... ]
• Asano, M. and Itoh, M., 'Occurrence of Tetramine and Choline Compounds in the Salivary Gland of a Marine Gastropod, Neptunea Arthritica Bernardi', Tokohu J. Agr. Res., vol. 10, no. 2, 1959, pp. 209-227. [ Details... ]
• Asano, M. and Itoh, M., 'Salivary Poison of a Marine Gastropod, Neptunea Arthritica Bernardi, and the Seasonal Variation of Its Toxicity', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 90, no. 3, 1960, pp. 674-688. [ Details... ]
• Bearup, A. J., 'A Schistosome Larva from the Marine Snail Pyrazus Australis as a Cause of Cercarial Dermatitis in Man', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1955, pp. 955-960. [ Details... ]
• Boray, J. C. and McMichael, D. F., 'The Identity of the Australian Lymnaeid Snail Host of Fasciola Hepatica L. and Its Response to Environment', Aust. J. Marine Freshw. Res., vol. 12, no. 2, 1961, pp. 150-163. [ Details... ]
• Clench, W. J., 'The Poison Cone Shell', Occas. Papers on Mollusks, Harvard Univ., vol. 1, no. 7, 1946, pp. 49-52. [ Details... ]
• Clench, W. J. and Kondo, Y., 'Poison Cone Shell', The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 23, no. 1, 1943, pp. 105-120. [ Details... ]
• Clench, W. J. and Kondo, Y., 'The Poison Cone Shell', Occas. Papers on Mollusks, Harvard Univ., vol. 1, no. 7, 1946, pp. 52-80. [ Details... ]
• Cotton, B. C., 'A Catalogue of the Cone Shells (Conidae) in the South Australian Museum', Records of the South Australian Museum, vol. 8, no. 2, 1945, pp. 229-280. [ Details... ]
• Cox, J. C., 'Notes and Exhibits [Poisonous Effects of the Bite Inflicted by Conus Geographicus (sic) Linn.]', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales., vol. 9, 1885, pp. 944-946. [ Details... ]
• Endean, R. and Rudkin, C., 'Studies of the Venoms of Some Conidea', Toxicon, vol. 1, 1963, pp. 49-64. [ Details... ]
• Flecker, H., 'Cone Shell Mollusc Poisoning, With Report of a Fatal Case', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1936, pp. 464-466. [ Details... ]
• Flecker, H., 'Cone Shell Mollusc Poisoning', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1936, p. 865. [ Details... ]
• Hermitte, L. C. D., 'Venomous Marine Molluscs of the Genus Conus', Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 39, no. 6, 1946, pp. 485-512. [ Details... ]
• Hinegardner, R. T., 'The Venom Apparatus of the Cone Shell', Hawaiian Med. J., vol. 17, no. 6, 1958, pp. 533-536. [ Details... ]
• Hubendick, B., 'Recent Lymnaeidae. Their Variation, Morphology, Taxonomy, Nomenclature and Distribution', K. Svenska VetenskAkad. Handl., vol. 3, 1951, pp. 1-223. [ Details... ]
• Iredale, T., 'Fatal " Sting " by a Cone', J. of Conch., vol. 20, no. 6, 1935, p. 166. [ Details... ]
• Iredale, T., 'Fatal Cone-Bite', Venus Kyoto Japan, vol. 5, no. 5, 1935, p. 294. [ Details... ]
• Iredale, T., 'Fatality from Cone-Bite', J. de Conclayliol. (Paris), vol. 79, no. 3, 1935, pp. 264-265. [ Details... ]
• Iredale, T., 'Fatal Case of Attack by Cone', The Nautilus, vol. 49, no. 2, 1935, p. 41. [ Details... ]
• Johnston, T. H. and Cleland, E. R., 'Larval Trematodes from Australian Terrestrial and Freshwater Molluscs. Part II. Cercaria (Furcocercaria) jaenschi n. sp.', Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., vol. 61, 1943, pp. 202-206. [ Details... ]
• Johnston, T. H. and Simpson (Cleland), E. R., 'Larval Trematodes from Australian Terrestrial and Freshwater Molluscs. Part V', Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., vol. 63, no. 1, 1939, pp. 63-68. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., 'Piscivorous Gastropods of the Genus Conus', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 42, 1956, pp. 168-171. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., 'Cone Shell Stings. Recent Cases of Human Injury Due to Venomous Marine Snails of the Genus Conus', Hawaiian Med. J., vol. 17, no. 6, 1958, pp. 528-532. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., 'The Ecology of Conus in Hawaii', Ecological Monographs, vol. 29, no. 1, 1959, pp. 47-90. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., 'Type Specimens and Identity of the Described Species of Conus. I. The Species Described by Linnaeus,1758-1767', J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.) (Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society?), vol. 44, no. 302, 1963, pp. 740-768. [ Details... ]
• Kohn, A. J., Saunders, P. R. and Wiener, S., 'Preliminary Studies on the Venom of the Marine Snail Conus', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 90, no. 3, 1960, pp. 706-725. [ Details... ]
• Leigh, W. H., 'Cercaria huttoni, sp. Nov. A Dermatitis-Producing Schistosome Larva from the Marine Snail, Haminoea antillarum guadalupensis Sowerby', The Journal of Parasitology, vol. 39, no. 6, 1953, pp. 625-629. [ Details... ]
• Petrauskas, L. E., 'A Case of Cone Shell Poisoning by " Bite " in Manus Island', The Papua New Guinea Medical Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, 1955, pp. 67-68. [ Details... ]
• Pockley, E., 'Cone Shell Mollusc Poisoning', The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 1, 1936, p. 662. [ Details... ]
• Russell, F. S. and Colman, J. S., 'The Zooplankton. IV. The Occurrence and Seasonal Distribution of the Tunicata, Mollusca and Coelenterata (Siphonophora)', Sci. Rep. Gr. Barrier Reef Exped., vol. 2, no. 7, 1935, pp. 203-276. [ Details... ]
• Tomlin, J. R. LeB., 'Catalogue of Recent and Fossil Cones', Proc. Malac. Soc. London, vol. 22, no. 4&5, 1937, pp. 205-330 +. [ Details... ]
• Whyte, J. M., 'Paralysis by Cone Shell Venom', Aust. J. Sci., vol. 25, no. 3, 1962, p. 99. [ Details... ]
• Whyte, J. M. and Endean, R., 'Pharmacological Investigation of theVenoms of the Marine Snails Conus textile and Conus geographus', Toxicon, vol. 1, 1962, pp. 25-31. [ Details... ]