We all know that most jellyfish are poisonous, but we don't know that in fact, some conchs are also extremely poisonous, such as the chicken heart snail we are going to talk about today, which is one of the top ten poisons in the world.
It is also known as taro snail and conical snail, mainly growing in tropical seas, generally living in the warm sea coral reef area, belongs to a very beautiful but extremely poisonous snail. It is necessary to remind everyone that chicken heart snail is a general term for various taro snails, with more than 500 kinds of types, each of which contains high toxicity and needs to be paid great attention.
The largest known chicken heart snail body is now about 23 centimeters long, so named because it looks like a chicken heart, and there is a small opening hidden in its tip, and the poisonous fangs inside can spray a small amount of deadly venom, according to studies, one chicken heart snail contains enough toxins to kill 10 people. The most important thing is that there is no effective antivenom, because this venom is a mixture of more than 100 compounds, and the toxic composition of each kind of chicken heart snail is different, and some of them also have tetrodotoxin, and their toxins can make humans paralyzed, unable to move, and are very calm without warning before death, and now there are more than 30 known deaths, so don't see the beautiful conch on the beach and pick it up at will, maybe curiosity will hurt you.
Although they are extremely toxic, they are of great medical value, can be used directly as drugs, and can also be used as an ideal molecular template for the development of new drug lead compounds, which is also of great significance for the study of neurobiology. The range of treatments for the diseases studied included chronic pain, epilepsy, cardiovascular disease, mental disorders, movement disorders, spasms, cancer, and stroke.
Its toxin can also be extracted into a substance to make analgesic, 1,000 times more effective than morphine, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2004 as "Prialt." Listed as a toxin compound that can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression and epilepsy.
In general, the pros outweigh the pros, but everyone has to pay attention to safety at the beach.