You may never have seen snails as a threat. Then you wouldn’t know that they are among the five most dangerous animals in the world for humans. Freshwater snails can endanger human life due to the diseases they carry. Cone snails in the oceans take this a step further and have spears that contain a complex neurotoxin that can instantly paralyze their prey.
A Reddit user is also on the agenda for this very reason. The user, who took this poisonous snail in his hand and made a video without being aware of the danger, managed to go viral in an instant. Of course, it’s not easy for humans to predict this danger, as it doesn’t look as scary as the coral snake or the blue-ringed octopus.
Aposematism is the name given to warning signs aimed at keeping predators away. Poison frogs are among the most famous examples of clearly conveying the message “you’ll probably die if you eat me” by taking on different shades of blue, red and yellow. However, cone snails don’t fall into this category because they aren’t trying to tell dangerous things to back off. It is assumed that the venom of just one of the deadliest cone snails could kill as many as 700 people.
As can be seen in the video above, the endangered cone snails can camouflage very well in the sand where they hide. First they wait for their prey to come within spearing distance, then they unleash their deadly weapons. Cone snails have dangerous teeth and use these teeth to inject various harmful substances. All cone snails are poisonous, but each species produces a specific mix of toxins to specific targets. Larger species target small fish, while smaller species usually prey on worms.
To summarize… If you don’t know much about snails, it’s best to look at them from a safe distance.
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