The cone snail referenced in the study you linked, Conus geographus, also has the same ion channel disrupting venom that is typical of cone snails. If you were bit by one, you’d die of paralysis. It does appear to use an insulin-like peptide to initially stun the fish, but the coup de grâce is from typical paralytic conotoxins.
Conus geographus is the most dangerous cone snail species known, with reported human fatality rates as high as 65%. Crude venom gland extracts have been used to determine animal LD50 and to aid the isolation of several potent paralytic toxins. […]The molecular composition of individual defense-evoked venom showed significant intraspecific variations, but a core of paralytic conotoxins including α-GI, α-GII, μ-GIIIA, ω-GVIA and ω-GVIIA was always present in large amounts, consistent with the symptomology and high fatality rate in humans.
i love that this ended in both of you acknowledging how cool this info is and that you can both be right in different ways, and everyone learning something new.
The cone snail referenced in the study you linked, Conus geographus, also has the same ion channel disrupting venom that is typical of cone snails. If you were bit by one, you’d die of paralysis. It does appear to use an insulin-like peptide to initially stun the fish, but the coup de grâce is from typical paralytic conotoxins.
A cool discovery nonetheless and TIL. Neat.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25301479/
i love that this ended in both of you acknowledging how cool this info is and that you can both be right in different ways, and everyone learning something new.