Poison in a Cone | National Geographic

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crawling along the ocean floor is a cone
snail
it looks harmless but appearances can be
deceiving four tubes jut out from its
shell the long one at the top is a
siphon which it uses to inhale water and
detect prey the smaller ones on either
side are its eye stocks and in the
middle a deadly proboscis
concealed within the tip is a lethal
weapon a harpoon loaded with a
neurotoxic mix so complex there is no
anti-venom to thwart it
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it’s armed with at least a hundred
different toxins more than any other
creature
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when some cone snails go hunting they
like to burrow into the sand and wait
when a meal happens by the cone snail
fires its harpoon the poisons quickly
paralyze the fish once its prey is
helpless the cone snail retracts it
through its proboscis until it engulfs
the fish swallowing it whole
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the snail is no longer hungry and its
appearance no longer harmless
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