Buried in the sand, the only visible part of the fish-hunting cone snail is its brightly colored siphon, waving alluringly in the water. The cone snail's prey, a large clown fish swimming by, takes the bait as the cone snail’s venomous harpoon tooth launches into the fish, paralyzing it immediately, allowing the snail to swallow the helpless fish whole. α-conotoxin, one small part of the cone snail's venom, is currently being tested as an alternative to morphine for use during surgery. Another cone snail venom component that sedates fish is currently in clinical trials for epilepsy.
I have shown this video, included in Exploring Biodiversity: The Search for New Medicines, to several of my introductory biology classes, as illustration of the importance of preserving biodiversity. My students were thoroughly engrossed and amazed to hear that the cone snail, a slow-moving critter, is actually a predator equivalent to a shark....
University of California Press