Coral reefs, stretching along the entire coast of Australia, are of enchanting beauty; people from all over the world come to see them. But it is here that many vacationers, especially those who are fond of scuba diving, are in danger.
Many people know that many fish, such as sharks or warthogs, are bloodthirsty or poisonous. We have also heard about jellyfish that leave serious burns. But not many people know that among snails - it would seem that the most peaceful creatures in the world - there are species that are truly dangerous to humans.
The main danger is represented by cone snails, which got their name for the almost regular conical shape of the shell. These mollusks are endowed by nature with a weapon that resembles a harpoon gun in action. Together with the impact of a small thorn, the victim receives a solid dose of poison, which is also fatal to humans.
In total, this predatory family has 400 species that live in tropical seas. There are more of these mollusks on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia than anywhere else.
Cone snails are predators, and I must say that they are quite successful hunters. During the day, snails hide in corals, and at nightfall they crawl out of their hiding place. They have a highly developed sense of smell.
From a great distance, they feel the slightest chemical impurities in the water and slowly follow the trail of their prey. It could be a worm, another snail, or even a fish. Despite the fact that the latter swims quickly in the water, this does not bother the slow cone snail: its weapon will not let you down. The following subspecies of snails are considered the most poisonous: geographer shell, brocade shell, tulip shell, marble shell and pearl shell.
So, what is terrible about this mollusk. Their stigma has a modified goiter that acts like a dart or spear. This "dart" is wetted with a potent poison. This is why even a large, fast-swimming fish will not be able to swim far after the spike hits a target at a distance of more than a meter. This venom is similar to that of the blue-ringed octopus.
For a person, the poison of cones can cause a lot of trouble. Snails strike with a sharp spike that ends in a curved prong, like a harpoon. The injection is very painful, immediately there is numbness of the lesion, nausea, severe dizziness. If timely assistance is not provided, after half an hour paralysis of the respiratory organs and the cardiovascular system may occur.
According to statistics, every third victim of this mollusk dies. This is not because modern medicine is powerless against the poison of the cones. Since the injection takes place underwater, there is very little time left to get to the shore, and then to get to the nearest hospital.
Even more dangerous are those cases when the victim is alone under water. Since there is a rapid numbness of the injection site, and the pain is such that you can even lose consciousness, a person may simply not swim to the surface on his own.
True, it should be noted that, basically, all cases occur through the fault of the person himself. Attracted by the beauty of the shell, we try to pick up the snail and thus force the cone to defend itself.
be careful
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ho. Symptoms of poisoning were almost complete loss of sensation and numbness of the limbs. I lost the ability to feel the weight of things. A quart pot, filled to the brim with water, and a feather seemed to me the same weight. Timely taken emetic helped us. In the morning, one of the pigs died of rum, which ate the insides of the fish" (Cook, 1948).
Fugu poisoning is characterized by such symptoms that appear 10-15 minutes after eating, such as itching of the lips and tongue, impaired coordination of movements, excessive salivation, and muscle weakness. 60% of people poisoned by fugu die within the first day (Osipov, 1976). In 1947 alone, 470 cases of fatal fugu poisoning were recorded in Japan, and 715 cases from 1956 to 1958 (Linaweaver, 1967).
POISONOUS SHELLS
Under normal conditions, almost all molluscs that inhabit the seas and oceans are edible. However, in some cases, some of them become dangerous to humans. This strange transformation is the result of bacterial infection of mollusks or a consequence of the fact that, by feeding on poisonous dinoflagellates, they themselves acquire toxic properties.
Such mollusks include the heart of the vidka (Cardium edule), donax (Donax serra), spizula (Spisula solidissima), blue shell (Schizothaerus nuttalli), miya (Mya arenaria), California mussel (Mytilus californianus), edible mussel (Mutilus edulis) , Volsella (Volsella modiolus), etc.
Shellfish poisoning can occur in the gastrointestinal type - with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps that occur 10 - 12 hours after eating; allergic type - with redness and swelling of the skin, small skin rash, itching, headache, swelling of the tongue. The most severe form is paralytic. It is characterized by the appearance of burning and itching of the lips, tongue, gums. They are joined by dizziness, joint pain, impaired swallowing, salivation. Muscle paralysis often develops. In severe cases, poisoning ends in the death of the victim.
When collecting edible shellfish and crayfish
Tropical coasts shaped in shallow waters involuntarily attract the attention of large, brightly colored shells, in which their formidable inhabitants, poisonous cone mollusks, hide. These are representatives of the numerous (more than 1500 species) family Conidae. The shells vary in size from 6 to 230 mm, their coloration is varied and bizarre, but they all have a characteristic cone shape (Hinton, 1972). The most dangerous are the geographic cone (C.geographus), whose large shells of beautiful creamy white coloration are decorated with brown spots and stripes; C.magus with small whitish spotted shells; C.stercusmuscarum, whose whitish shell is covered with black dots; C.catus, which has a black shell with white spots; brown sky blue C.monachus.
C.tulipa is also among the extremely poisonous. Its small conical shell is blue, pink or red-brown, covered with white and brown dots and spirals. The marble cone (C. marmoreus) can be recognized by its large white shell with numerous triangular black spots, giving it a marbling appearance. Shiny, as if polished, C.textil shells are distinguished by a colorful ornament of brown and white dots and spirals.
Cones are very active when touched in their habitat. Their toxic apparatus consists of a poisonous gland connected by a duct to a hard proboscis with a radula-grater located at the wide end of the shell, with sharp spikes that replace the teeth of the mollusk. If you take the shell in your hands, the mollusk instantly moves the radula and sticks spikes into the body. The injection is accompanied by acute, leading to loss of consciousness pain, numbness of the fingers, strong heartbeat, shortness of breath, and sometimes paralysis. On the islands of the Pacific Ocean, cases of death of collectors of shells from the prick of cones have been recorded (Zal, 1970).
Terebra (Terebra maculata) is also referred to as poisonous molluscs. Its shell, which looks like a long narrow cone, has a peculiar pattern in the form of numerous white spots scattered over a brown or black background.
AT 1962 Pasteur Institute conducted
in New Caledonia researching the mollusks that have caused the deaths of several persons, and issued a special document ending with the words: "Collecting
Rice. 143. Clams: 1-edible mussel, 2-blue shell, 3-donax, 4-mia, 5-wolsella, 6-heart-shaped, 7-spizula, 8-California mussel
shells, remember - you are walking through a minefield."
Sea urchins (Echinoidea), covered with a solid shell of many needles, pose a certain danger to humans. They are very thin, poisonous, and each stings in its own way.
The needles are so sharp and fragile that, having penetrated deep into the skin, they immediately break off and it is extremely difficult to remove them from the wound. In addition to spines, hedgehogs are armed with small prehensile organs, pedicillaria, scattered at the base of the spines.
Sea urchin venom is not dangerous, but causes burning pain at the injection site. And soon there is redness, swelling, sometimes there is a loss of sensitivity and a secondary infection.
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT
The best method of prevention against jellyfish stings and poisonous fish and shellfish stings is caution. Caution when parsing the catch in the net, when removing fish from the hook, caution and attentiveness when collecting mollusks in search of food among corals, in areas overgrown with algae. You can take the shell of a mollusk only by the narrow end, i.e., where there is no radula, and in no case should you put it on your hand.
If a person has been attacked by a poisonous animal, help should be provided without delay.
When stung by jellyfish, the affected area is thoroughly washed with soap and water,
treated with a solution of permanganate | respiratory analeptics, copious hot |
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(1:5000), lubricate | plant | drinking and small amounts of alcohol. | ||||||||||||||||
oil or synthomycin emulsion | When pricked with spikes, lionfish effect |
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damage caused by | physalia, | means | it turns out ammonia |
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ny alcohol, 3 - 5 ml of which is taken |
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means for | warning | inside in a weak solution (Clark, 1968). |
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shock (1 - 2 | ml 0.1% | To prevent secondary infection |
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or 1 - 2 promedol tablets), cardiac | the wound is thoroughly cleaned of fragments of needles, |
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and respiratory | funds, | antihistamines | spikes, and then treated with disinfectant |
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drugs | (diphenhydramine), and with | stop | solution | (alcohol, manganese |
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breathing - artificial respiration (Miles, | coy, etc.) | and apply sterile |
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1966, etc.). | knitting. afflicted | limb fix |
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intoxication, | emerging | improvised material |
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ha "gonionema, treated with subcutaneous injection | provide | injured | ||||||||||||||||
1.0 mg 0.1% adrenaline solution or | ||||||||||||||||||
1.0 ml of 5% ephedrine (Brechman, Minute- | Stepping on a sea urchin, you should |
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Sorokhtina, 1951; Naumov, 1960). As | when taking ashore, immediately remove from |
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ve neutralizing and diuretic internally | wounds fragments of needles and pedicillaria, sma |
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pour 30 - 40 ml of 40% rivenno | clean the wound with alcohol and, if possible, make |
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glucose solution. | take a hot bath (Wright, 1961). | |||||||||||||||||
A. E. Bari (1922), A. V. Ivanov, A. A. Strel | Poisonous fish don't always succeed |
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know by appearance, especially |
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alcohol, however, according to other cars | dyam, first found in tropical |
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ditch, alcohol is contraindicated, as well as | waters, but some external features |
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morphine and atropine | (Lazurenko et al., 1950; | alert | human |
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Sorokhtin, 1951). | prevent | poisoning. Specialists |
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When bitten by poisonous sea snakes, | ||||||||||||||||||
pricks with thorns of poisonous fish or mollusks | colors | |||||||||||||||||
kov medical measures conducted in three | reef fish), devoid of lateral swimming |
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directions: | neutralization | removal | nicknames, scales having a rounded shape, |
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poison, pain relief and shock control, | tortoiseshell | coracoid |
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prevent secondary infection. Not | sedentary fish, |
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bypassed without wasting time, immediately | with skin ulcers and growths, with blood |
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suck out the poison. If from the moment of the bite | effusions and tumors of the internal organs |
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lo no more than 3 - 5 minutes, a certain field | new (Halstead, 1958). But even in those cases |
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zu can have a tourniquet on the end | when the fish species is well known, |
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nostality above the bite site and cruciform | we can remember that caviar, milk, liver are always |
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sections of the wound (Pigulevsky, 1964; Hal- | and potentially dangerous to humans. |
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1954). To relieve pain struck | In the absence of other food and |
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limb should be for 30 - 60 minutes | ability to determine exactly how |
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put in a tub of hot water. Re | it is safe to eat caught fish, its meat is re |
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novocaine injections are recommended | command | cut into thin slices |
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last wound (3 - 5 | ml 0.5 - 2% solution | soak in water for 30 - 40 minutes, and then, |
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ra), lotions with alcohol, ammonia | after changing the water, cook until tender. | |||||||||||||||||
concentrated solution | Harvested shellfish | |||||||||||||||||
rum potassium permanganate. Some | ||||||||||||||||||
rinse before cooking, and after cooking |
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useful ingestion |
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drain the broth, because it may contain |
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solution | permanganate | |||||||||||||||||
toxic substances. Because they skon |
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canteen | ||||||||||||||||||
centered mainly in the organs |
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per day (Salnikov, 1956). | ||||||||||||||||||
digestion, in siphon, black meat and toads |
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To combat pain shock | rah, you can only eat muscle or white |
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yut injection under the skin 1.0 ml of 0.1% | ||||||||||||||||||
morphine solution or 2.0 ml of 2% solution | Treatment of food poisoning directed |
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pantopona*, | cardiac | drugs, | primarily to remove poison from the organ |
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nism. Therefore, at the first sign |
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* B. Halsted (1970) | poisoning: nausea, dizziness, sore |
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de around the lips - needed immediately |
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derivatives are contraindicated, as they depress |
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respiratory center. | clear | abundant drinking of salt |
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water followed by induction of vomiting.
Then the victim must be warmed up, since the peripheral circulation is weakened, give hot strong tea, coffee. In case of violation of cardiac activity, caffeine, cordiamine, camphor, etc. are injected subcutaneously; when breathing stops, artificial respiration is performed.
PREDATORY SEA ANIMALS
[Ever since man first ventured into the open ocean, he has considered the shark as his worst enemy. True, from the entire numerous shark tribe, numbering about 350 different species *,
Only a few are dangerous to humans. According to some experts, representatives of only 27-29 species attack people (Shegren, 1962; Halstead, 1959; Gar-
9 types of sharks. And the first in this gloomy list of cannibal sharks is the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). There is no equal in strength and bloodthirstiness to this "queen of kings of the ocean", nicknamed the white death. The tiger (Galiocerdo cuvieri) and the hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena) shark, an ugly monster with a flat head divided into two lobes, with tiny evil eyes sparkling at their ends, do not count many victims on their conscience. No less dangerous for a person is the swift beauty mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), not tameable in attack, stubborn in defense; honey, but predatory bovine (Carcharinus leucas); gray-brown sandy (Carcha rias taurus Rafinesque) with long and thin, like daggers, teeth bent inward; blue (Prionace glauca) with narrow fins, a slate-blue back and a dazzling white belly and long-winged (Carcharhinus longimanus) with huge pectoral fins and a rounded dorsal fin, as if smeared around the edges with dirty white paint, which J.-I. Cousteau considers one of the most formidable deep water sharks; insidious lemon (Negaprion brevirortris) and even sea fox (Alopias vulpinus Bonnaterre). However, it is highly doubtful that a swimmer, seeing
* The guide to sharks compiled by V.I. Pinchuk (1972) includes 327 species.
having made a shark, there was a special desire to find out to which family it belongs, whether it is bloodthirsty or completely harmless (Fig. 144).
Experts believe that any shark longer than a meter is dangerous to humans. Thus, in 1406 cases analyzed by L. Schultz, sharks 1.2–4.6 m in size attacked (Schultz, 1967).
How often do sharks attack humans? There are "optimists" who believe that the danger of shark attacks on humans is exaggerated. Sometimes, the statistics of car accidents are cited as arguments, in which, they say, significantly more people die than from shark teeth. But although there are significantly fewer cars on our planet than sharks, people with them are much more common (Fig. 145).
The US Naval Laboratory at Siesta Key, Florida held over 1,700 dossiers from detailed description shark attacks (Williams, 1974). According to official statistics, from forty to three hundred people die every year from shark attacks (Kenya, 1968). What about unofficial?
Who knows how many of those unfortunates who disappeared without a trace after shipwrecks found their death in the teeth of a shark! However, it is absolutely known that during the war and maritime disasters, the number of shark victims increases dramatically.
And where only sharks do not attack people: among the endless expanses of the ocean and near the shore in shallow water, in the blue of that depth at the foot of the reefs and on the sun-drenched sandy bottom. They attack their victims in storms and calm, calm weather, day and night. As a rule, sharks prefer only warm water, not below 21°C (Coplesson, 1963; Davies, 1963). Shark incidents in colder waters are an exception. Of the 790 attacks, only three occurred in 18°C water (Schultz, 1962).
Why do sharks suddenly become aggressive? Biologists suggest that hunger is the most likely cause. If the usual food - fish, squid, sloth seals and other inhabitants of the waters, which the predators coped with without much effort - "for some reason disappeared, the shark in a hungry blindness attacked any object, even surpassing it in size and strength. And yet the long-standing opinion about the incredible appetite of sharks turned out to be
Rice. 144. Sharks: 1-great white, 2-mako, 3-brindle, 4-sand, 5-sea fox, 6-hammerhead, 7-gray, 8-blue
Rice. 145. Areas of the oceans where shark attacks on humans have been recorded
erroneous. American biologist Eugene Clark found that the shark eats relatively little. Thus, the amount of food eaten by a shark in a week did not exceed 3–14% of its own weight (Clark, 1963).
According to W. Coplesson (Coplesson, 1963), a 3.5-meter shark, which was observed in the oceanarium for a year, ate only 96 kg of fish during this period, which was slightly more than half of its weight.
And at the same time, the promiscuity of the shark in tastes is simply amazing. What was not found in the stomachs of sharks - tin cans and postal parcels, horseshoes and ladies' hats, hand grenades, net floats and even a stove. Once, off the coast of Senegal, a native tom-tom drum was found in the belly of a tiger shark. Its dimensions were very impressive: length - 27 cm, width - 25 cm, weight of a good 7 kg (Budker, 1948).
An empty stomach caused sharks to attack people. This explanation is no one's you
raised doubts. So hunger is the obvious reason. But is it the only one? Many cases of human encounters with predators do not fit into the usual scheme. The injuries received by people did not look like bites, but resembled deep cuts, as if a comb of sharpened blades had passed through the body; swimmers, alarmed by an unexpected tingling or scratching, emerged from the water with fright to find extensive abrasions on the skin, the origin of which was not in doubt.
In general, much in the behavior of sharks remains inexplicable: either they indifferently glide past a helpless swimmer bleeding bleeding, not showing any interest in him, then they rush to attack an armed scuba diver, then they calmly swim next to a piece of bloodied meat, then a frenzied naki puffed on a rag soaked in oil.
Rice. 146. Types of shark teeth: 1-jaw of a sawtooth shark (rear view), 2-teeth of a Mako shark, 3-tooth of a white shark, 4-teeth of a comb-toothed shark, 5-teeth of a herring shark, 6 and 7-teeth of a tiger shark with saw
shaped edges
Sometimes the shark falls into some kind of inexplicable frenzy - "food frenzy", as Professor P. Gilbert called it. In blind fury, she pounces on any object that lies in her path, whether it be a boat, a box, a floating log, an empty can or a piece of paper. This all-destroying malice is somewhat reminiscent of the state called amok by the Malays. "... An attack of meaningless, bloodthirsty monomania, which cannot be compared with any other type of alcohol poisoning" - this is how Stefan Zweig described it. But now this strange seizure has passed, and the shark, as if nothing had happened, calmly returns to his companions.
Usually, the shark is very cautious and, having met an unfamiliar object, it will circle around for a long time, finding out if it is dangerous. But the more it is imbued with confidence in its strength and superiority, the faster the circles of its movement narrow.
The shark is preparing to attack. Her pectoral fins drop down at an angle of 60 °, her nose rises slightly, her back is hunched. Its tense body and head move back and forth as the tail moves (Church, 1961; Davies, 1964). Only once did the cameraman succeed in capturing this moment on film, and it almost cost him his life. Then follows a mighty rush forward - and the shark grabs its prey. But sometimes a shark strikes its victim with a snout on the fly. Maybe with this, she once again checks whether the object is edible, maybe she wants to stun the prey?
Nature has endowed sharks with the perfect
tool for killing. Their jaws, lined with a palisade of triangular teeth serrated along the edges, possess great strength. A four-meter shark can completely cut off a leg, and a six-meter one can easily bite a person in half. Depending on the breed, there are from twenty to several hundred teeth in the mouth of a shark. They are arranged in five or six, and sometimes in a good one and a half dozen rows and are replaced like cartridges in a revolver drum. As soon as the front ones fall out, the rear ones take their place. No wonder the shark's jaw is called "revolver".
Biologists from the Lerner Marine Laboratory at the Bimini Aquarium in the Bahamas have measured the power of shark jaws. For ten days the tiger shark was not fed anything, and when the predator literally went mad with hunger, a special dynamometer was thrown instead of meat. It was an aluminum cylinder in which stainless steel balls were placed between the outer shell and steel cages. The bait was a special plastic coating. The shark pounced on the prey. Her jaws were squeezed by a dynamometer with a force exceeding two thousand atmospheres. According to P. Gilbert, the jaw compression force reaches 18 metric tons (Gilbert, 1962).
When attacking, the shark first plunges the teeth of the lower jaw into the body of the victim, as if pushing it onto a fork. The teeth of the upper protruding jaw due to the movements of the head and rotational movements bodies, like a knife, shred tissue, inflicting terrible wounds. That's why the pro-
shark attack death rate (Gilbert, 1966). According to Dr. L. Schultz, out of 790 attacks, 408 resulted in deaths (51%) (Schultz, 1962).
But sometimes small, seemingly completely life-threatening bites unexpectedly led to a sad end. In the wounded, if medical care was late, the temperature soon rose, chills began. His condition quickly deteriorated, and he died this time from blood poisoning. It turned out that the shark mouth is inhabited by virulent hemolytic bacteria. In samples taken from the teeth and the mucous membrane lining the jaw, D. Davis and G. Campbell found whole hordes of these killers invisible to the naked eye (Davies, Campbell, 1962).
What helps a shark in its relentless search for food? Smell, sight, or maybe hearing? What is the significance of each of these feelings in the various stages of the attack? Many experts believe that the leading role that determines the behavior of a predator is played by the sense of smell (Baldrige and Reber, 1966, etc.). Its huge olfactory lobes in the brain provide an amazing ability to recognize smells at a great distance. A shark can detect the presence of foreign matter in water at a concentration of one in several million. Its muzzle, flat downwards, with wide-open nostrils extended far forward, perceives the countless smells of the ocean, helping to find the way to food, even if it is "beyond distant lands."
Based on experiments, John Parker of Harvard University suggested that sharks need both nostrils to accurately locate a target. If this is so, then the shark's side-to-side swaying when approaching prey is quite understandable: smelling a smell from one side, the shark deviates in this direction until the other nostril begins to catch it well.
Vision also plays an important role in the behavior of the shark. True, sharks are rather short-sighted, completely unaware of colors, and at a great distance rely little on their eyes. However, the smaller the distance to the target, the faster the value of this sense organ increases. Of course, the strength and direction of the currents, the transparency of the water and the illumination will have their effect, but at the moment of a direct attack, i.e., 3 - 5 m away, vision becomes the head
a sense that guides the shark's actions (Gilbert, 1962). Such a peculiar change in its role is explained by the anatomical features of the shark's organ of vision.
As you know, the eye of animals has two types of light-perceiving cells: cones and rods. The first - provide daytime vision in all its manifestations, visual acuity and the ability of the eye to distinguish colors depend on them. The second - are responsible for night vision. Since the whole life of sharks takes place mainly in an environment with low illumination, in the process of centuries of adaptation to these conditions, the eyes have acquired certain features. Professor P. Gilbert, having studied the organ of vision of 16 species of sharks from the orders Galeoidea and Suqalloidea, found that most of them have cones in the retina of the eye either in a meager amount or completely absent (Gilbert, 1963). After this, it is not surprising that sharks do not shine with visual acuity and do not understand colors at all. But there is an abundance of rods in the retina, and this provides the eye with a very high sensitivity. This sensitivity is enhanced by a special mirror-like layer of guanine crystals lining the retina. Light entering the eye, reflecting from it, as if from a mirror, back into the retina, re-irritates the visual cells (Mc Fadden, 1971). Therefore, even in the dimmest lighting, the shark perfectly distinguishes not only the object, but also its slightest movement, especially if the background is contrasting. The shark easily adapts to abrupt changes in light, and the sensitivity of the eye to light after a 7-hour stay in darkness, according to S. Graber, increases almost a million times (Gruber, 1967). Although the shark does not understand the colors of objects, it nonetheless responds perfectly to the brightness and contrast of their coloration. Fifty years ago, the famous shark hunter R. Young drew attention to this feature of shark vision. Catching predators off the coast of Australia, he noticed that white nets were always full of prey, while blue and green ones, as a rule, remained empty.
It is no coincidence that Negro divers in the Antilles carefully blacken their feet and hands before diving into the water, which are much lighter than the rest of their skin (Webster, 1966). Divers from the west coast of Florida prefer black to all colors of wetsuits.
Conrad Limbaugh, a great shark connoisseur, noted that tiger and white sharks attacked people wearing green flippers much more often and showed complete indifference to black and dark brown ones (Limbaugh, 1963). This character trait of sharks is well known to Australian bathers. Therefore, before entering the water, they leave on the shore everything that can attract the attention of predators - rings, bracelets, beads and earrings.
However, Japanese women - pearl collectors ha - ama - put on a jacket, skirt
and a cap of bright white color in the firm belief that it is white that scares away sharks
and sea snakes.
Where is the truth? This question was of great concern to the designers of marine rescue equipment. After all, lifeboats, rafts and vests are made of materials of the most striking color - red, yellow, orange. Against the blue background of the ocean expanses, they are more noticeable at a great distance. But as soon as bright objects attract predators, which means that no one can guarantee that sharks will leave the lifeboat alone, and tearing through thin rubberized fabric with their teeth is a mere trifle for them!
Special experiments carried out off the Florida coast showed that it is expedient to paint the underwater part of boats and rafts black in order to avoid shark attacks (Gilbert et al., 1970; McFadden, 1971).
But the shark uses not only sight and smell in its incessant search for food. Nature endowed the predator with an organ that makes it possible to catch at a great distance the slightest fluctuations in water caused by beating fish, falling heavy objects, explosions, etc. It is no coincidence that during sea disasters, sharks appear out of nowhere at the scene to arrange their bloody feast . This sensitive organ is a kind of combination of sonar and radar - the lateral line. It consists of the thinnest channels lying almost under the skin on both sides of the shark's body. Along them stretch bundles of nerve ganglia, from which structures resembling hairs enter the canal cavity filled with liquid (Grasse, 1957).
Do sharks have hearing? Many scientists have long been convinced that sharks lack the ability to perceive underwater sounds, believing that the lateral line
replaces and fully compensates for the omission of nature. The fallacy of this opinion was proved by the biologist D. Nelson. Having recorded on tape the sounds of beating fish at a frequency of 100 Hz, he connected a loudspeaker in a hermetic shell to the tape recorder and lowered it under the water near Rangoria Atoll, where sharks had not appeared for a long time. Soon a blurry shadow flashed at the foot of the reef, and a large tiger shark swam right up to the loudspeaker. She approached the unfamiliar object, which made the sound of a wounded fish, and began to circle, as if listening.
The experiment was repeated many times, and each time more and more new sharks came to the "fish calls". True, after some time the sharks “caught through” the deception and lost all interest in the loudspeaker (Nelson, 1969).
Australian professor Theo Brown reported that, according to his observations, sharks are well versed not only in underwater sounds, but also in music, which "acts on them soothingly." Sharks have another sense organ, the purpose of which has long remained unclear to scientists. In 1663, the famous Italian anatomist Malyshgi discovered on the front part of the shark's head, especially in the snout area, many tiny holes resembling pores. They led to thin ampoules with an extension at the end of the tube, lined from the inside with cells of two types - mucous and sensitive. These strange formations were studied and described in detail in 1678 by Stefano Lorenzini and were named after him. Some researchers assumed that with their help the shark determines changes in water salinity (Barets and Szabo, 1962), others argued that the ampullae of Lorenzini are a kind of depth gauge that responds to fluctuations in hydrostatic pressure (Dotterweich, 1932, etc.), others it was believed that the function of the ampullae was limited by the perception of temperature (Sand, 1938). In 1962, R. W. Murray suggested that the ampullae were an extraordinarily sensitive electroreceptive organ, detecting changes in the electric field of one million volts per centimeter (Murray, 1962). S. Dijkgraaf decided to test the correctness of Murray's idea with the help of a simple but original experiment (Dijkgraaf, 1964). If a metal plate is lowered into water, he reasoned, then the electric field strength will change. How many
ro sharks can detect these changes, which means it will affect their behavior. And so he did. A long metal plate was introduced into the aquarium with sharks, and the sharks were clearly "nervous". They remained indifferent to the appearance of the glass plate. The metal plate was lowered again, and again the sharks became restless. Yes, Murray was right!
Further comprehensive studies led scientists to the conclusion that Lorenzini's ampoules are a sensory organ that responds to a variety of stimuli: temperature, salinity, hydrostatic pressure, and, finally, a change in the electric field. It is highly probable that with the help of the ampoules, at the last stage of the attack, i.e., a few centimeters from the target, the shark determines the nature of the prey by the electrical impulses emitted by the biological source.
Every year knowledge about sharks expanded, and yet in many ways their nature remained a mystery. "You never know what a shark is going to do" is the golden rule of divers, and most experts agree with it (Budker, 1971).
“As a result of my meetings with sharks,” testifies Jacques Cousteau, “and there were more than a hundred of them, and I met with the most different types, I drew two conclusions: the first - the closer we get to know sharks, the
one hundred F., 1974). "You can never know anything about sharks. Never trust sharks," warns Nathaniel Kenya (1968).
But if the shark we meet is aggressive, can it be forced to abandon its original intentions? Biologists answer: "Yes!" It has long been noted that sharks are usually cautious and rather cowardly. They often walk around a chosen object for a long time and will not attack until they are convinced that the object of attack is a creature inferior to them in strength. So, it is necessary to "convince" the shark of its superiority. Let her know that she is dealing with an active, strong opponent, ready for a decisive fight, and she will retreat (Gold, 1965). If a person looks helpless, randomly floundering like a wounded fish, the predator will definitely go on the offensive.
“When you meet a shark face to face,” the rules say, “do not randomly beat on the water, do not try to get away from the shark - it is useless and will only speed up the fatal tie. Whatever feelings you are overwhelmed at this moment, overcome fear and try " convince "the shark that the law of nature is on your side" (Gold, 1965). How to scare away a shark? Memos and manuals for sailors and pilots, instructions for divers and hunters are full of numerous business tips: scare the shark with a deceitful movement, join the palms of your hands and slap the water hard, blow bubbles, scream underwater.
Since winning a duel with a shark is an unrealistic thing, it is much easier not to enter into a close acquaintance with it. Do not be familiar with sharks - experts advise. Remember that even the smallest of them can cause serious injury. Resist the temptation to grab a shark by the tail, put a harpoon in its side, or ride it. After killing a fish, do not carry it with you on a hook or in a bag. When you spot a shark, don't wait for it to show interest in you. Avoid night swimming in areas where sharks appear. Do not enter the water with scratches or bleeding wounds (Budker, 1971). Those who, in addition to their desire, ended up in the waters inhabited by sharks, must, without wasting time, climb into the boat. If there are no life-saving equipment or they have been carried a considerable distance, the victims are advised not to take off their clothes and especially their shoes, no matter how they restrict movement. Of course, they will not save you from shark teeth, but from abrasions when in contact with a rough shark skin like a grater - no doubt.
In addition, it has long been noted that sharks attack a clothed person much less often than a naked person (Llano, 1956).
Being on a boat or raft, one should not assume that the shark danger has finally passed. Many cases are known when sharks violently attacked not only fragile rescue boats, but even large yachts and fishing boats (Coplesson, 1962). In order not to provoke an attack, it is not necessary to tempt fate by fishing when sharks dart nearby, put your arms or legs overboard, and even splash them in the water. It is quite obvious that, throwing overboard the remnants of food, garbage, and even more soaked
bandages with blood, send out an invitation to visit the surrounding sharks.
And yet, for the victims of air crashes and shipwrecks, advice alone, no matter how wise, was not enough. Something more important was required.
and more reliable than paragraphs of instructions
and memos.
the second concentration of the substance increased from the periphery to the center. The equation took into account the exposure time, drug concentration, and its total amount in water. To determine the amount of the substance needed to create a protective zone, the resulting integral was compared with the calculated dose.
In the 40s, Woods-Holsko- | Result | equations |
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th Oceanographic Institute was once | made it clear that if |
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a special repellent powder has been worked, | the drug is several orders of magnitude toxic |
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consisting of a mixture of copper acetate | her potassium cyanide, even in this case |
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with black dye nigrosine. In conditional | he can neither paralyze nor kill a shark |
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oceanarium | a drug | acted | sings. If you still find some supernuclear |
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however, subsequent | experimental | twisted substance, then the swimmer will become his victim |
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you in the open ocean have caused serious | howl before sharks. | |||||||||||||||||
doubts about its effectiveness (Able-Ay- | In 1960 - 1962 australian spices |
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blsfeld, 1971; Volovich, 1974, etc.). | offered to fight | |||||||||||||||||
Difficulty in using powders | with the help of pharmacological preparations, |
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pellets is also that | but do not dissolve them in the environment, |
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and injected directly into the shark's body. For this |
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for 3 0 - 4 0 m, i.e. at a distance that she | purpose was made a special spear, |
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can be overcome in ten seconds. More often | which had an original instead of a tip |
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the whole shark swims imperceptibly. Cro | device, | resembling | peculiar |
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In addition, powders are designed for one-time | syringe. At the time of the injection, the shark received |
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application, and the protective zone quickly | potent | substances. |
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washed away by wind and current. | S. Watson tested various drugs - |
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Attempts have been made to create | potassium cyanide, strychnine, nicotine - aku |
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drugs, | highly toxic | la was amazed quickly, bloodlessly and demon |
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for sharks. For this, an American scientist | (Watson, 1961). Method | seemed |
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X. Baldridge | series of experiments | very promising. True, it remained |
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to determine the average speed | dose | pharmacologists |
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medical preparations: after all, the same |
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calculations | drug toxicity | personality, | striking | to death | meter |
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and the value of its concentration depending on | lemon, | six meters | brindle |
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from the time of passage of the protective shark | could be no worse than a mosquito |
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In the aquarium at a distance of 12 m each | ||||||||||||||||||
from a friend set two milestones, and observe | specialists | Moutskaya | ||||||||||||||||
armed with stopwatches, | laboratories | and L. Schultz | ||||||||||||||||
divided the time during which each of the sharks | Schultz, 1965). To determine the average |
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walked the distance. | sizes of sharks, the meeting with which is most |
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multiple | they are likely within a few months |
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was surprised to find that all sharks, | caught about a thousand sharks of 24 different |
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and 2.3 - 2.5-meter brindle, and 0.8 - 2- | types. Each one is carefully weighed. |
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meter lemon, i.e. regardless | lazed and measured. It turned out that almost |
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type and size, swim at the same speed | 90% of sharks living in Florida waters are |
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growth - 0.8 - 0.9 m / s (Baldrige, 1969). | weight less than 200 kg and have a length of not more than |
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3 m. Only in 10% of cases the weight of predators |
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zone with a radius of 10 m, the shark will stay | shawl 200 kg, and the length reached 4 m or more. |
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some ten seconds. But I attack | Thoroughly | results" | ||||||||||||||||
The shark can reach speeds of 15 - | "anthropometry", Clark and Schultz proposed |
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20 m/s Will the drug work? | lived as an optimal charge of 10 g. |
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in this case? | At the same time, for 1 kg of body weight of a shark, |
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Having built | mathematical | 50 mg of the substance. This dose is enough |
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shield field, X. Baldridge made some | but to kill her (Baldridge, 1968). |
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"hypothetical shark" | approach | In many countries, the popularity of |
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"hypothetical victim" through the zone, in which | all kinds of firearms are used |
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"When collecting shells, remember - you are walking through a minefield!"
Conclusion from the results of a study of human deaths from shellfish conducted by the Pasteur Institute in 1962
Many marine animals are "armed" with highly effective poisons, which serve to successfully hunt and forage, as well as protect their "producers" from enemies. Of course, not all inhabitants of the sea have such an effective means of defense and attack. There are completely non-poisonous, there are those with weakly acting poisons intended for use on tiny animals, but there are also owners of poisonous "weapons" that are deadly for people.
Poisons, or, as they are called, biotoxins, produced by these poisonous marine inhabitants can be divided into three main categories according to the principle of impact on the victim's body:
- Causing poisoning by eating poisonous animals, or oral biotoxins
. A person is poisoned with these toxins when he eats meat or products from a poisonous marine animal, for example, marine fish (lampreys, hagfish, the liver of some sharks or rays, pufferfish - the infamous fugo fish, boxfish, pufferfish, freshwater marinka, etc.). d.). Sometimes poisons are contained in the mucus that covers the body of a marine animal, and enters the human body when cooking raw dishes.
In any case, oral poisoning is the entry of a toxin into the human body with food. - Causing poisoning victims when some marine animals release a poisonous substance into the water - crinotoxic poisoning
.
This type of poisoning with animal venom is very rare in nature and cases of human exposure to such toxins have not been registered. It is known, for example, that toxins released into the water by "sea cucumbers" - sea cucumbers, can have a negative effect on the body of a diver, but the effect of these poisons on the human body is not fatal. - Causing poisoning when a poison produced by special glands enters the body of the victim by mechanical means - a bite, prick, sting or other device of a poisonous animal that injures the body of the victim. This type of poison is called parenteral biotoxins . Poisoning with these poisons is caused by the actions of marine animals, which are called actively poisonous.
Here we will dwell on this type of poisoning of the human body - parenteral.
Actively poisonous species are found among gastropods and cephalopods, of which gastropods cones are the most dangerous ( Conus), families Conidae. Cones are widespread on coral reefs and in the coastal waters of the tropics and subtropics of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are found in the Red and Mediterranean seas. Currently, about 500 types of cones are known. The shells of these mollusks have an almost regular conical shape, thanks to which they got their name. Their length varies from 60 to 200 mm. Many of the cones have very beautiful shells, painted in a variety of colors and covered with intricate patterns, so they are often the subject of a collector's craft. The cones are stabbed with a sharp spike that protrudes from the narrow end of the shell. Biologically active protein-like fractions of this poison have a neurotoxic effect, affecting mainly the peripheral nerves.
When touching a cone on a mollusk (stepping, picking it up), it instantly puts forward a radula (a special grater for grinding food) located near the wide end of the shell, and sticks spiked teeth with a notch in the body of the offender, having the shape of small harpoons. These teeth are filled with poison produced by the venom gland of the molluscs.
At the moment of pricking the molluscs of the cones with a harpoon spike, pain of varying intensity is felt, which depends on the physical condition and tolerance of the poison by the body of the victim. Often the pain is so severe that the person loses consciousness. Inflammation at the injection site is usually minor. After 10-15 minutes, itching, burning, sharp pain occurs at the injection site, which can spread to the entire body of the victim. Abundant salivation, a feeling of squeezing in the chest, difficulty in speech, darkening of the visual fields, convulsions, and sometimes vomiting are noted. In severe cases, flaccid paralysis quickly develops, knee jerks disappear. In a few hours, death may occur. In the case of mild poisoning, all symptoms disappear within a day.
In case of damage caused by mollusks of the genus Conus, it is urgent to remove the fragments of the poisonous spike, and wipe the injection site with alcohol, apply a bandage and provide the victim with peace. The victim in the supine position should be urgently sent for qualified medical care to a medical institution. With a sharp violation of the respiratory function, apply artificial respiration, preferably in combination with a heart massage. Some relief can bring subcutaneous injection of 1 ml of 0.05% prozerin solution 1-2 times a day. Painkillers are used - intramuscularly 50% analgin solution at a dose of 2 ml or 1% diphenhydramine solution - 1 ml, as well as other antihistamines, B vitamins. For severe pain, intravenous injections of pantopon or promedol solution are used.
The most dangerous cone mollusks include:
- geographic cone (C.geographus), which has a shell with a beautiful creamy white coloration, along the background of which brown spots or stripes are scattered.
- clam mage (C. magus), which has a whitish shell with dark spots. The dimensions of its shells do not exceed 10 cm in length.
- C.ster-cusmuscarum- has a light, usually whitish shell, along which numerous black dots are scattered.
- katus (C.catus), which has a black shell with white spots.
- clam monk (C. monachus), which has a blue-brown shell.
- tulipa (C.tulipa), a small cone-shaped shell of which has a color coating ranging from blue and pink to reddish-brown. Scattered across the background are white and brown dots and spiral patterns.
- marble cone (C.marmoreus) is distinguished by a large white shell with numerous triangular black spots, giving it a marbled appearance.
- textile cone (C.textil), which has a shiny shell with a colorful ornament of brown and white dots and spiral patterns.
Also referred to as poisonous mollusks terebro (Terebra maculata). The shell of this mollusk, similar to a long narrow cone, has a peculiar pattern in the form of numerous white spots scattered over a brown or black background.
Cone shells, along with cowrie shells, are highly prized by collectors. Gloriamaris cone shell ( C.gloriamaris), known as "Glory of the Seas"
, is considered the most beautiful shell in the world. The first descriptions of gloriamaris date back to the 18th century. Until the middle of the last century, there were only about two dozen of these shells in world collections, so they cost thousands of dollars. Areas where gloriamaris are relatively widespread have now been found and their price has fallen sharply.
The basic rule for the prevention of cones poisoning is not to collect beautiful shells without means of protecting hands from injections. Particular care should be taken when swimming in the habitats of these mollusks, as they are often found in shallow water. The danger of stepping on a cone mollusk while walking and swimming on the beaches is quite real.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the poison of some cone molluscs, for example, the cone of the magician (Conus magus), is used in medicines as an anesthetic with unique properties. It is a very effective analgesic that does not cause drug addiction.
In the short video below, you can see a cone clam looking for prey.
Those who first come to the Red Sea are impressed by the abundance of beautiful shells. They can be bought from merchants, found ashore, or seen live snorkeling in coral reefs.
The most common are cones. There are already 550 known species, and at least a dozen new ones are described annually. This is the most collectible and expensive type of shells. They range in size from two to ten to fifteen centimeters. They are found in all oceans and even in the Mediterranean Sea. The fact that almost all cone snails are poisonous has long been known. Their venom is comparable to cobra venom, but much more toxic than it. When bitten, numbness of the body and cardiac arrest quickly develop. There is no antidote, since the poison of the cone consists of more than 50 low molecular weight peptides containing 20-30 amino acids. It acts instantly, the fish is immobilized in 2-3 seconds.
For a person, the bite of any kind of Cone is extremely dangerous. Leading geographic cone- the mortality rate caused by the injection of this mollusk is 70%. The real salvation from death is the method used by the Papuans of New Guinea - profuse bloodletting and heart massage.
Now think about whether it is worth picking up beautiful shells among corals or is it better to limit yourself to observation from the outside.
To such a gloomy description, one should add: of course, it is not every day that a stretcher with victims is taken away from hotels. And cones don't always sting. Two years ago, unknowingly, I collected them with my bare hands (photo attached). And of course, it’s not a fact that you will come across a deadly poisonous Geographic cone, but remember - out of ten bitten by it, only three survive. It is a fact.
The sting at the cone is located in the channel of the narrow part of the shell. If you want to be sure to pull it out of the water, take it by the wide part of the sink.
Resting in Egypt, and snorkeling, you will surely see a lot of interesting things under water. Tip - do not touch anything with your hands, it is better to buy an underwater camera. There will be no less impressions, but you will save your health.
Another no less interesting representative of the Red Sea fauna is TRIDACNIDAE - Giant clam. Beautiful shell from 10 to 30 cm, partially or completely grown into the reef, with beautiful turquoise or blue wavy edges.
giant bivalve mollusk - Tridacn.
They look like funny and beautiful scallops, but in fact this is the famous giant killer clam. Specimens weighing 100 - 200 kg are known. The principle of "murder" is simple - the shell is ajar, and inside the pearl shines. You can stick your hand behind it, you can't pull it out. The flaps close quickly and very tightly. Such a trap cannot be unclenched even with a mount. There are cases when divers died in such a trap. The story in which the poor fellow had to cut off his hand in order to free himself and survive is not officially confirmed, but it is quite acceptable. There is other information - when human remains were found in a one and a half meter shell. Given the size and force of compression of the valves, such an outcome is quite possible. This is the oldest and largest bivalve mollusk on earth. On average, its dimensions are: 30 - 40 cm, but there are specimens one and a half - two meters long, and weighing at least half a ton. And they live 200 - 300 years and more.
Snail Cone (in Latin Conidae) is a predatory gastropod mollusk. The beautiful multi-colored shells of these snails are decorated with bizarre designs by nature, they have inspired the imagination of people for more than one century. In ancient times, those who lived on the ocean, shells were a kind of currency. They were collected and exchanged for money, and jewelry made from them was sold. Cones imprinted on canvases Dutch artist Rembrandt and some other painters, students art schools love to sketch them.
Cone snail is poisonous, not so long ago, employees of the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) drew the properties of this mollusk, which is deadly for humans, to benefit his health. Based on the poison of this mollusk, medicines are made, thanks to which it has become possible to treat diseases that have long been known to medicine in a new way.
Where does the Cone snail live?
In total, more than 800 species of these mollusks are known, most of which live in tropical waters. But there are also those that live in a temperate climate - warm deep water bodies, for example, in the Mediterranean Sea.
General information
Predator Conus is a snail that usually preys on marine worms and mollusks. Occasionally eats small fish and crustaceans. It paralyzes its prey with its poison.
The bites of many species are deadly to humans, and not all types of cones are suitable for the production of medicines. But some are used in pharmacology - strong painkillers are made from poison that do not cause drug addiction.
The most poisonous subspecies of cones:
- Geographical,
- tulip,
- Pearl,
- brocade,
- Marble.
The venomous mollusk Geographical (in Latin Conus geographus) is the most dangerous of all. It is also called "cigarette" for a conical-oval shell 43-166 mm long, its habitat is the Indo-Pacific region.
In principle, cones lead a hermitic lifestyle, they are not aggressive, therefore, mainly shell collectors are at risk. Snails defend themselves when they are picked up - they release stingers, their bites are comparable to bee stings. The stings of large species kill a person in a matter of hours, and the bite of the “cigarette snail” generally leaves the victim time to smoke just one cigarette.
Appearance
From the name it is clear that the shells of these mollusks are cone-shaped. The color of the shell depends on the habitat - it is affected by chemical composition ocean or sea water. The main color background of the shells can be a variety of pastel shades:
- light grey,
- greenish,
- light pink, etc.,
- but there are species with bright multi-colored shells.
The length of the shells in most species is from 4 to 20 cm, but there are cones 50 cm long with a body weight of more than 2 kg. It is clear that in such a large "body" and the gland that produces the nerve agent is also of considerable size.
The shells of cone snails are not only an object of sale in the form of jewelry and crafts, but also a collector's item. So, it is known that in Germany collectors gave more than 200 thousand marks for individual copies.
The structure of the oral apparatus and the method of eating food
These snails are nocturnal and burrow into the sand during the day. On the radula (as the molluscs call the apparatus for capturing and grinding food) there are pointed teeth in the form of harpoons bent inward. At night, the cones hunt and eat prey, as if scraping off layer after layer of the victim's flesh with these "harpoons". Inside each "harpoon" are hollow grooves connected to a gland that produces poison.
The snail detects its prey with a special sensory organ. As soon as the prey is selected, one of the teeth protrudes from the pharynx, its cavity is filled with poison, which passes through the groove and accumulates at the very tip. Having approached the object of hunting at the right distance, the mollusk shoots poison at it from the tooth, and a strong toxic secret paralyzes the prey.
How snails hunt
The food of most types of cones is sea worms, but there are also those that feed on shellfish and fish. Fish-eating species have the most toxic poison - it has a paralytic effect in a second.
Despite the usually slow movements of the cones, their evolutionary way of development for survival is such that in the dark they have learned to quickly attack creatures that are several times more mobile than the snails themselves. "Harpoon" with a poisonous secret flies out instantly - the poison immobilizes the victim. The mollusk slowly draws in the prey and digests it whole, and the used tooth is discarded and immediately replaced by another.
Some types of cones have outgrowths that attract fish. The poison paralyzes a small fish almost instantly - the body still continues to wriggle, but the fish has already lost coordination of movements and cannot escape. Although if she managed to make one strong jerk, she could easily escape from the teeth of a snail, since she moves much faster than a mollusk. The cones suck small fish into themselves, and on those that are larger, they themselves stretch like a stocking.
After the first prey caught, some species of cones still have up to 20 harpoon teeth to hunt for the next prey.
The danger of cones for humans
The paralyzing bites of these snails are also dangerous for human life, in particular - Conus geographus (Geographic cone). Australian naturalist Rob Bredl claims that death can occur in as little as two minutes. According to statistics, in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, two or three people die every year from contact with cones, and only one from meeting with sharks. The numbers are as follows, because a person who does not know about the danger of these mollusks feels the desire to immediately take the amazingly beautiful shell in his hands, forcing the small living creature to defend itself. But from a shark, on the contrary, a person runs away as soon as possible.
The lethal dose of the poisonous secret of a cone snail for a person with a body weight of 70 kg is 2 mg - this is about the same as a snake injects into the victim.
Cone stings are very sensitive, but it's not only pain. Bites can lead to a sharp deterioration in vision, muscle paralysis, respiratory failure and death.
Features of poison cones and use in medicine
The concentration of poisonous secretion in cones varies greatly, and the poison of two individuals of the same species may also differ in composition. This is not found in any other species of poisonous animals, such as snakes or spiders. AT last years The poison of cones attracted the attention of scientists with a number of its features:
- it contains a fairly simple biochemical component - peptides, these substances are easy to synthesize in the laboratory;
- it gives a quick analgesic effect;
- the effect of the peptides that make up the poison differs - some toxins give an analgesic effect, others immobilize;
- the peptides that make up the poison do not lead to allergic reactions in humans.
But there is no antidote for poison (because therapy with drugs based on it is strictly symptomatic). For example, the indigenous inhabitants of the Pacific Islands at the site of a cone bite practice to immediately make an incision and release blood.
Today, the venom of these molluscs is used in non-opioid pain medications. For example, Ziconotid is a synthetic version of a non-opioid analgesic (snail cone peptide), its effect is superior to that of all currently available drugs of this type. The poison of the cones is supposed to be used in drugs that will replace drugs based on morphine, which cause drug addiction.
One of the components of the poison of cones is used in the cosmetic industry - it is in the composition of anti-wrinkle creams. The principle of action is to cause local inflammation along the finest lines of the face, which leads to protrusion and smoothing of skin folds.
Here it is, a snail cone, unusual, beautiful and at the same time deadly.
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