cone shell

cone shell, any of several marine snails of the subclass Prosobranchia (class Gastropoda) constituting the genus Conus and the family Conidae (about 500 species). The shell is typically straight-sided, with a tapering body whorl, low spire, and narrow aperture (the opening into the shell’s first whorl). Cones inject a paralyzing toxin by means of a dart; a few of the larger species have fatally stung humans. The usual prey are worms and mollusks, and a few cones capture fish. The various cone shell toxins are designed to interfere with a victim’s nervous system and work by binding to specific cell surface receptors (glycoproteins) and ion channels. Cone shell toxins are widely used by neurobiologists to study receptor and ion channel functioning in vertebrates. Most cone species occur in the Indo-Pacific region.

The glory-of-the-seas cone (C. gloriamaris) is 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 inches) long and coloured golden brown, with a fine net pattern. Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was known from fewer than 100 specimens, making it the most valuable shell in the world. In 1969 divers discovered the animal’s habitat in the sandy seafloor near the Philippines and Indonesia. Hundreds of specimens have been collected since, and thus the shell’s value has diminished significantly.