Cone snail

Cone snails are predatory marine gastropods in the family Conidae. They capture prey with a venomous, harpoon-like tooth and often have patterned, cone-shaped shells.

Radular tooth: A specialized tooth from a mollusk’s radula, used for feeding or prey capture. Cone snails turn individual radular teeth into disposable harpoons.
Gastropod: A mollusk in the class Gastropoda, typically moving on a muscular foot and often bearing a shell. Cone snails belong to the gastropod class of mollusks.
Ziconotide: A synthetic form of a cone snail peptide used to treat severe chronic pain. This approved drug derives from a toxin of the magician’s cone.
Geography cone: A large cone snail, Conus geographus, that hunts fish and can seriously envenomate humans. Its potent venom and fish-hunting behavior make it a well-known dangerous species.
Stonefish: A venomous marine fish whose dorsal spines inject toxins when pressed against an attacker. Stonefish deliver venom through defensive spines rather than a prey-catching tooth.
Conotoxin: A peptide toxin produced by cone snails, often targeting specific ion channels or receptors. These toxins disrupt prey nervous systems after a harpoon injects them.
Conidae: A family of predatory marine gastropods that includes cone snails and related genera. This family is the taxonomic group to which cone snails belong.
Ion channel: A membrane protein that allows selected ions to cross a cell membrane. Many conotoxins act by blocking or altering ion channels.
Magician's cone: A cone snail species, Conus magus, whose venom contains the peptide used to develop ziconotide. Its venom supplied the compound behind a clinically used pain medicine.
Jellyfish: A gelatinous marine animal that captures prey using stinging cells called cnidocytes. Jellyfish venom delivery relies on microscopic stingers, not a propelled harpoon.

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