Conus purpurascens

Conus purpurascens
	Shell of Conus purpurascens G. B. Sowerby I, 1833, with operculum, measuring 83.7 mm in height, collected at low tide on Venudo Island, in Panama
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Conidae
Genus:	Conus
Species:	C. purpurascens
Binomial name
	Conus purpurascens; G. B. Sowerby I, 1833
Synonyms
	Chelyconus purpurascens (G. B. Sowerby I, 1833); Conus (Chelyconus) purpurascens G. B. Sowerby I, 1833 · accepted, alternate representation; Conus comptus Gould, 1853; Conus luzonicus G. B. Sowerby II, 1858; Conus purpurascens var. rejectus Dall, 1910; Conus regalitatis G. B. Sowerby I, 1834;

Conus purpurascens, common name the purple cone, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae, the cone snails and their allies.^[1]

Like all species within the genus Conus, these snails are predatory and venomous. They are capable of "stinging" humans, therefore live ones should be handled carefully or not at all. Conantokin-P is a toxin derived from the venom of Conus purpurascens.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 33 mm and 80 mm. The shell is broad-shouldered, with a rude, striate spire. It is striate below, and the string sometimes is slightly granular. The shell is clouded with white or violaceous and brown or olive, with close lines of chestnut and white minute articulations. Sometimes it is irregularly white-banded in the middle. ^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Central Pacific, off the Galapagos Islands and in the Gulf of California, Mexico.

In popular culture

The toxin of Conus purpurascens is mentioned in Michael Crichton's novel The Lost World, as a powerful neurotoxin. In the story the cone toxin is used in poisonous darts, which the characters use to defend themselves from dinosaurs. The novel says that the toxin is capable of killing an animal so fast that it dies before feeling the stinging sensation of the dart.