---
title: "What the sources say about the Geography Cone Snail | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "45 claims from the Geography Cone Snail profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Geography Cone Snail (*Conus geographus*)

> 45 claims from the Geography Cone Snail profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Geography Cone Snail](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/geography-cone-snail/)

## Conus geographus (geography cone snail). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Conus_geographus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| wears a smooth shell with small bumps at the shoulder | featuring coronation (small bumps) at and above the shoulder |
| mottled brown or red over white, cream or rose pink | ranges from ground colors of white, cream, or rose pink overlain with brown or red mottled patterns |
| It measures 70 to 150 millimeters | Range length 70 to 150 mm |
| weighs between 13.3 and 62 grams | Range mass 13.3 to 62 g |
| with an average of 38.8 grams | Average mass 38.8 g |
| It lives on living or broken coral reefs and in sandy tidal zones | living or fragmented coral reefs, and sandy regions within tidal zones |
| across the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, including the northern shores of Australia | indigenous to the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific regions, found specifically along the northern shores of Australia |
| It is found mostly just below the tideline | most commonly found in the sublittoral epipelagic zone (note: sublittoral = below the low-tide line) |
| with a recorded depth range of 0 to 200 meters | Range depth 0 to 200 m |
| By day it lies buried in the sand; at night it hunts | inactive during the day, burying itself in the sand to camouflage itself for both protection and hunting. At night the snails are active to hunt food. |
| It also uses the hook-and-line method | snails hunt with two methods used by other Conus species: the hook-and-line method and the net-hunting method |
| it slowly approaches its prey, waving its proboscis like a lure to attract the fish before stinging it with its radula | the snail slowly approaches its prey, waving its proboscis like a lure to attract the fish before stinging the fish with its radula |
| The fish jerks violently for a few moments and is hit with a paralyzing venom that stiffens it, and the snail swallows its catch whole, regurgitating the bones hours or days later | The fish jerks violently for a few moments and is injected with a paralyzing excitotoxin venom that stiffens the fish, allowing the cone snail to swallow it whole. Several hours or days later, the snail regurgitates the fish’s bones. |
| Either way, the venom goes in through a hollow radular tooth used as a harpoon | hollow radular tooth (housed in the proboscis) as a harpoon to incapacitate its prey. Venom glands produce deadly toxins and digestive enzymes, and these are injected into the snail’s prey through the radular tooth (note: net-hunting: fish engulfed then harpooned with the radular tooth; hook-and-line: stung with the radula) |
| Small and medium fish that fit in its mouth | small (30 to 50 mm) and medium (100 to 130 mm) sized fishes that fit into its rostrum (mouth) (note: stats.diet) |
| stung with venom and swallowed whole | injected with a paralyzing excitotoxin venom that stiffens the fish, allowing the cone snail to swallow it whole (note: stats.diet) |
| Living or broken coral reefs and sandy tidal zones across the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, recorded from 0 to 200 meters deep | living or fragmented coral reefs, and sandy regions within tidal zones (note: stats.habitat; Indo-Pacific and 'Range depth 0 to 200 m' as in the body) |
| a snail that fires a hollow radular tooth like a harpoon, injecting venom that incapacitates the fish it hunts | hollow radular tooth (housed in the proboscis) as a harpoon to incapacitate its prey. Venom glands produce deadly toxins and digestive enzymes, and these are injected into the snail’s prey through the radular tooth (note: vibe.reason, settled in #836.) |

## Lorenz & Morrison (2026). Conus geographus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2026: e.T192772A251030063.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2026-1.rlts.t192772a251030063.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: conservationStatus in stats; category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List (iucnredlist.org refuses scripts), taxon id 192772 matches the assessment DOI) |

## Safavi-Hemami et al. (2015). Specialized insulin is used for chemical warfare by fish-hunting cone snails. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423857112

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its venom insulin appears to be part of a toxin mix researchers call the nirvana cabal, released into the water to disorient schools of small fish | Insulin appears to be a component of the nirvana cabal, a toxin combination in these venoms that is released into the water to disorient schools of small fish |
| Researchers found specialized insulins as major components in the venoms of two fish-hunting cone snails, *Conus geographus* and the tulip cone (*Conus tulipa*) | Two fish-hunting cone snails, Conus geographus and Conus tulipa, have evolved specialized insulins that are expressed as major components of their venoms. |
| Injected into fish, the venom insulin causes hypoglycemic shock, a dangerous drop in blood sugar | When injected into fish, the venom insulin elicits hypoglycemic shock, a condition characterized by dangerously low blood glucose |
| Its discoverers say their evidence suggests it is "specifically used as a weapon for prey capture" by cone snails that hunt with a net strategy | Our evidence suggests that insulin is specifically used as a weapon for prey capture by a subset of fish-hunting cone snails that use a net strategy to capture prey |
| disoriented fish are easier to engulf with the snail's distended false mouth, which works like a net | making them easier to engulf with the snail's distended false mouth, which functions as a net |
| Reef hunter whose venom insulin, released into the water, appears to disorient schools of small fish before the snail engulfs them and harpoons them with a hollow venom tooth | released into the water to disorient schools of small fish, making them easier to engulf with the snail's distended false mouth (note: tagline; harpoon: ADW 'a fish is engulfed in one mouthful before being harpooned with the radular tooth'; 'reef' from the ADW coral reef habitat) |
| Venom insulin that appears to be part of the "nirvana cabal," a toxin mix released into the water to disorient schools of small fish, which the snail then engulfs and harpoons with a hollow radular tooth | Insulin appears to be a component of the nirvana cabal, a toxin combination in these venoms that is released into the water to disorient schools of small fish (note: stats.superpower; engulf-then-harpoon is ADW's net-hunting description) |
| The specialized insulin in Conus geographus venom is much more similar to fish insulins than to the mollusc hormone | These insulins are distinctive in having much greater similarity to fish insulins than to the molluscan hormone (note: FAQ 2) |
| it carries chemical modifications typical of the snail's other venom toxins | posttranslational modifications characteristic of conotoxins (hydroxyproline, γ-carboxyglutamate) are present (note: FAQ 2) |
| Injected into fish, it causes hypoglycemic shock, a condition marked by dangerously low blood glucose | When injected into fish, the venom insulin elicits hypoglycemic shock, a condition characterized by dangerously low blood glucose (note: FAQ 2) |

## Ahorukomeye et al. (2019). Fish-hunting cone snail venoms are a rich source of minimized ligands of the vertebrate insulin receptor. eLife.

https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.41574

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| venom insulins from *Conus geographus*, the tulip cone and a third species, *Conus kinoshitai*, differ in sequence, yet all bind to and activate the human insulin receptor | Insulins from C. geographus, Conus tulipa and Conus kinoshitai exhibit diverse sequences, yet all bind to and activate the human insulin receptor. |
| Tested in zebrafish and mice, venom insulins significantly lowered blood glucose in a lab model of diabetes | When tested in zebrafish and mice, venom insulins significantly lower blood glucose in the streptozotocin-induced model of diabetes. (note: streptozotocin-induced = a lab-induced diabetes model in animals, not a human trial) |
| which the authors say offers insight into designing new diabetes drugs | provide unique insight into the design of novel drugs for the treatment of diabetes |
| Venom insulins from three fish-hunting cone snails, Conus geographus among them, differ in sequence, yet all bind to and switch on the human insulin receptor | Insulins from C. geographus, Conus tulipa and Conus kinoshitai exhibit diverse sequences, yet all bind to and activate the human insulin receptor. (note: FAQ 3) |
| In diabetic zebrafish and mice, venom insulins significantly lowered blood sugar | When tested in zebrafish and mice, venom insulins significantly lower blood glucose in the streptozotocin-induced model of diabetes. (note: FAQ 3) |
| The researchers say this may help guide future work on fast-acting insulin drugs | This research may help guide future studies looking into developing fast-acting insulin drugs for diabetic patients. (note: FAQ 3; eLife digest) |

## Hu et al. (2012). Elucidation of the molecular envenomation strategy of the cone snail Conus geographus through transcriptome sequencing of its venom duct. BMC Genomics.

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-13-284

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| is believed to prey on fish hiding in reef crevices at night | Conus geographus is believed to prey on fish hiding in reef crevices at night. |
| the most highly expressed toxin is not paralytic: it "causes sensory disorientation." | the most highly expressed venom component is not paralytic, but causes sensory disorientation |
| The team's data suggest that disorienting prey is central to how the snail uses its venom | Our data suggest that disorientation of prey is central to its envenomation strategy. |
| The same team calls *Conus geographus* "the deadliest snail on earth," | The fish-hunting cone snail, Conus geographus, is the deadliest snail on earth. |
| the cone snail behind most of the human fatalities recorded in the medical literature | well known as the deadliest of all cone snail species, responsible for most of the human fatalities recorded in the medical literature |
| Citing earlier work, their paper states that in the absence of medical intervention, 70% of human stinging cases are fatal | In the absence of medical intervention, 70% of human stinging cases are fatal [ 11 ]. (note: Hu et al. repeat this figure from their reference 11; it is not their own finding) |
| The scientists who sequenced its venom duct describe Conus geographus as the deadliest snail on earth | The fish-hunting cone snail, Conus geographus, is the deadliest snail on earth. (note: FAQ 1) |
| their paper, citing earlier work, states that in the absence of medical intervention, 70 percent of human stinging cases are fatal | In the absence of medical intervention, 70% of human stinging cases are fatal [ 11 ]. (note: FAQ 1) |
| dangerLevel: Deadly | well known as the deadliest of all cone snail species, responsible for most of the human fatalities recorded in the medical literature (note: Settles #836: human deaths recorded from the species put it in Deadly (capability reading, #631).) |

## Dutertre et al. (2014). Intraspecific variations in Conus geographus defence-evoked venom and estimation of the human lethal dose. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.09.011

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Another team found an apparent link between the amount of venom a snail injects and the size of its shell, and used it to extrapolate a human lethal dose of 0.029 to 0.038 milligrams per kilogram of body weight from one historic fatal case | an apparent linear correlation between the dry weight/volume of injected venom and the size of the shell allowed extrapolation to a human lethal dose (0.038-0.029 mg/kg) from an historic fatal case of C. geographus envenomation (note: extrapolated from a single historic case) |