Not Poisonous, but Venomous -Dangerous Snails to Avoid!

What comes to your mind when you think about snails? They are small and slimy creatures with interestingly-patterned shells that protect their soft bodies. There are tens of thousands of different types of snails that have been found in the world, living either in water or on land, and they range from less than an inch long to over a foot in length.

Can snails be poisonous to humans?

Most snails are harmless to humans, and they are helpful to the environment.

However, out of the 40,000 species of snails we know, there are hundreds of snails that can be venomous (not poisonous) and therefore dangerous to humans. Read on to see what’s the difference between a venomous and poisonous animal.

What makes an animal ‘poisonous’ or ‘venomous?’

Animals are considered poisonous if eating or ingesting part of the animal would be dangerous for your health. Animals are considered venomous when they can inject or attack with a toxic venom. Some species of snails, can inject other animals with venom, making them unsuspected dangerous animals.

What are ways that snails protect themselves?

Snails are generally small creatures. This means that larger animals prey on snails, so they need ways to protect themselves. We know that snails have shells. Whenever they are scared, they can retreat into their shells for protection. In fact, their shells grow as their bodies grow, always giving them more space to hide. These shells are solid and can even blend into the environment so that snails are not seen as well. Snails also have tons of teeth, and some of these teeth can be shot out like harpoons and used as a spear to attack other animals. Finally, some snails also have toxic venom that they can inject into other animals to paralyze them when they are threatened or hungry.

How can you tell if a snail is dangerous or not?

Most snails where you live are not poisonous. In fact, they are great little environmental helpers.

When plants die, snails can eat them and provide new fertilizer for the land so that more plants can grow healthy and strong.
Some snails can even eat fungi and smaller animals, recycling them to make the environment a healthier place.
Snails can also pollinate flowers, just like bees do.
Believe it or not, humans can eat some types of snails, and this is a popular dish in France called escargot , which is high in nutrients.

Most of the time, seeing a snail is not a cause for panic! Leave snails alone in their habitat to do their jobs as environmental helpers, and you will be rewarded. Be careful if you see snails in the water because this is where venomous cone snails live.

The deadliest of them all: Cone snails

Common garden snails in your backyard are probably not dangerous. But in the warm ocean waters, particularly in the Indo-Pacific regions, live the deadliest cone snails

Cone snails belong to a group of predatory sea snails that are marine gastropod mollusks. They are characterized by their cone-shaped spiral shells.

Cone snails are venomous and use a harpoon-like tooth to impale and paralyze their prey. Their venom contains hundreds of toxins specifically targeted to immobilize fish, worms, or other mollusks that the snails eat.

When hunting, the cone snail extends a radula tipped with a harpoon-like tooth coated with the venom. The tooth is loaded with a cocktail of toxic conotoxins that can subdue the prey in seconds. After stunning the prey, the snail releases insulin, which separates the flesh from the shell or skin, allowing it to eat the prey. The snails take advantage of the different toxins to hunt various types of prey.

Cone snails move very slowly, so their venom is essential for their survival as a defense against predators and immobilizing their prey. The venom from cone snails is especially dangerous to humans because it contains neurotoxins , which can cause pain, weakness, numbness, and more serious symptoms in humans. Cone snail venom has killed some humans, but it does not always do this. So, cone snails should be handled with great caution.