 | wildsingapore homepage wildfactsheets homepage wild shores of singapore blog | | all animals | all plants | concepts | glossary | search | | shelled snails text index | photo index | | Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda | | Cone snails Family Conidae updated Jul 2020 Where seen? Although empty shells of dead snails are sometimes seen, living cone snails are rarely encountered. In Singapore's past, they were seen on rocky shores, reef flats and reefs. Features: 5-10cm. Shell is heavy, conical with a flattened end, somewhat like an ice-cream cone. Although some cone snails have pointed tips or are olive-shaped. The shell opening is a narrow slit. The operculum is a tiny long sliver of horn-like material. The colourful shell patterns of many species may be hidden under a thick 'hairy' growth (periostracum). Others are glossy as they spend most of their time burrowed into sand, where they lie in wait for passing prey. This slow-moving snail relies on its fast acting venom to rapidly immobilise and kill prey. The radula is modified into a hollow tooth that the snail shoots out like a harpoon to inject a potent toxin into prey (Here's a photo of the harpoon on The Gladys Archerd Shell Collection website). The harpoon remains embedded in the prey. The harpoon is attached to the snail with a chord. Once the prey is paralysed (usually in seconds), the snail retracts the cord and engulfs the prey. It can take a cone snail several hours to digest its prey. The snail can 'reload' a new harpoon to replace a used one. Sometimes mistaken for Olive snails (Family Olividae) which tend to be more tapered on both ends of the shell, resulting in a more olive-like shape. What do they eat? Cone snails are predators. They feed on worms, other snails and small fishes. Many are only active at night, hiding during the day. Human uses: Cone snails are mainly collected for their attractive shells for the shell trade. Research on their toxins have resulted in some medical applications to help humans cope with pain and diseases. Status and threats: The Textile cone (Conus textile) is listed as 'Vulnerable' on the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore. It used to be found in Singapore coral reef areas up till the 1970s but is now extremely rare. The Singed cone (Conus consor) is also listed as 'Vulnerable' on the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore. It used to be the most common cone species seen in Singapore's rocky shores in the past, but now seldom seen due to degradation or reclamation of natural rocky shores. | | Singed cone snail (Conus consors) Cyrene Reef, Aug 13 |  Underside. Cyrene Reef, Aug 13 | | Deadly cone! The cone snail is one of the most dangerous animals on Singapore shores. The snail can inject bare hands and bare feet of swimmers and shore explorers in shallow water. Its tiny 'harpoon' is hardly felt so victims are often unaware until they show symptoms of envenomation. The best recourse is to bring the victim to hospital immediately. What is the effect of a cone snail's sting? Although the sting is painless, the effect on humans can be fatal. Here's a description: Local stinging is followed within minutes by numbness, or tingling/burning skin and localised tissue death. Serious stings may result in nausea, headache, loss of coordination, blurred vision, speech and hearing, general paralysis, coma, and respiratory failure within hours. Death is typically due to respiratory failure from paralysis of the diaphragm or heart failure. The Geographic cone (Conus geographus), which produces the most potent conotoxins found to date, may produce rapid brain swelling, coma, respiratory arrest and heart failure. Death has been documented within 5 hours in a C. geographus envenomation. No antivenin is available for cone shell envenomation. In significant envenomations, symptoms may take several weeks to resolve. From Conidae on MedScape Reference How to stay safe: Do not handle any snails that appear conical. If you are not sure what the snail is, don't handle it. Do not collect snails in open bags or plastic bags which harpoons can penetrate to hit bare skin. Use hard containers when collecting specimens (which in Singapore should only be done with a valid permit). Do not dig into sand with bare hands. Cover all skin near the ground by wearing covered shoes and long pants. | | | | Cone snails on Singapore shores | On wildsingapore flickr - Photos for free download
- Map of sightings in Singapore
| | Other sightings on Singapore shores |  Lazarus, Jan 19 Photo shared by Abel Yeo on facebook. |  Conus caracteristicus East Coast Park, Jul 18 Photo shared by Royston Koh Lai Peng on Singapore Biodiverity Records. |  Lazarus, Nov 19 Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |  Lazarus, Nov 19 Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |  Lazarus, Oct 17 Photo shared by Jianlin Liu on facebook. |  Lazarus, Oct 17 Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook. |  Lazarus, Jan 22 | Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |  St John's Island, Oct 25 Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |  Kusu Island, Jul 19 Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |  |  Kusu Island, May 22 Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |  Kusu Island, Jul 20 Photo shared by Jianlin Liu on facebook. |  Conus textile Kusu Island, Jul 20 Photo shared by Jianlin Liu on facebook. |  Kusu Island, Jan 24 Photo shared by Che Cheng Neo on facebook. |  Kusu Island, May 25Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |  Kusu Island, May 25Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. | Kusu Island, Aug 24 Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |  Small Sisters Island, Oct 25 | Photo shared by Che Cheng Neo on facebook Conus achatinus: ID by Yan Le Su. |  Big Sisters Island, Oct 19 Photo shared by Vincent Choo on facebook. |  Big Sisters Island, Oct 19 Photo shared by Vincent Choo on facebook. |  Small Sisters Island, Jul 23 Photo shared by Kelvin Yong on facebook. |  Cyrene Reef, Nov 17 Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook. |  Cyrene Reef, Aug 16 Photo shared by Marcus Ng on flickr. |  Cyrene, Sep 22 Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. |  Terumbu Pempang Laut, Aug 21 Photo shared by Toh Chay Hoon on facebook. |  Terumbu Pempang Laut, Jul 25 Photo shared by Richard Kuah on facebook. | Sisters Island, May 2018 | | Cyrene Reef, Aug 2013 shared by Heng Pei Yan on her blog. | Family Conidae recorded for Singapore from Tan Siong Kiat and Henrietta P. M. Woo, 2010 Preliminary Checklist of The Molluscs of Singapore. in red are those listed among the threatened animals of Singapore from Davison, G.W. H. and P. K. L. Ng and Ho Hua Chew, 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened plants and animals of Singapore. ^from WORM | Conus achatinus (Turtle cone snail) Conus aulicus Conus capitaneus Conus caracteristicus Conus consors (Singed cone snail) (VU: Vulnerable) Conus coronatus Conus generalis Conus geographus Conus glans Conus gubernator Conus hyaena Conus magus Conus marmoreus (Marbled cone snail) Conus mustelinus Conus planorbis Conus recluzianus Conus striatus Conus sulcatus Conus tessulatus Conus textile (Textile cone snail) (VU: Vulnerable) Conus virgo Conus zeylandicus=^Conus zeylanicus Gymnobela fulvocincta ^now in Family Raphitomidae | | Links - Geography Cone Shell (Conus geographus) and Cone Shell (Conus consors) Tan, Leo W. H. & Ng, Peter K. L., 1988. A Guide to Seashore Life. The Singapore Science Centre, Singapore. 160 pp.
- Textile cone (Conus textile) and Singed cone (Conus consors) on the NParks Flora and Fauna website.
- Family Conidae on The Gladys Archerd Shell Collection at Washington State University Tri-Cities Natural History Museum website: brief fact sheet on moon snails with photos.
- Family Conidaein the Gastropods section by J.M. Poutiers in the FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes: The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1: Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) website.
- Better pain relief with cone snails on the wild shores of singapore blog.
- A sighting of the turtle cone shell, Conus achatinus, 22 January 2020, Calvin Jiah Jay Leow, Singapore Biodiversity Records, 2020: 8 ISSN 2345-7597, National University of Singapore.
References - Ron K. H. Yeo & Tan Heok Hui. 30 April 2020. Recent sightings of the textile cone in Singapore. Singapore Biodiversity Records 2020: 41-42 ISSN 2345-7597
- Royston Koh Lai Peng. Cone snail, Conus caracteristicus, at East Coast Park. 31 July 2018. Singapore Biodiversity Records 2018: 75 ISSN 2345-7597. National University of Singapore.
- Toh Chay Hoon and Tan Siong Kiat. 12 September 2014. Marbled cone snail at Pulau Hantu, Conus marmoreus. Singapore Biodiversity Records 2014: 256.
- Toh Chay Hoon. 16 May 2014. Cone snail (Conus recluzianus) at Lazarus Island Singapore Biodiversity Records 2014: 135-136
- Tan Siong Kiat and Henrietta P. M. Woo, 2010 Preliminary Checklist of The Molluscs of Singapore (pdf), Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore.
- Davison, G.W. H. and P. K. L. Ng and Ho Hua Chew, 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened plants and animals of Singapore. Nature Society (Singapore). 285 pp.
- Abbott, R. Tucker, 1991. Seashells of South East Asia. Graham Brash, Singapore. 145 pp.
- Gosliner, Terrence M., David W. Behrens and Gary C. Williams. 1996. Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific: Animal life from Africa to Hawaii exclusive of the vertebrates Sea Challengers. 314pp.
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