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Venomous auger snail Hastula ( Impages ) hectica (Linnaeus, 1758): molecular phylogeny, foregut anatomy and comparative toxinology
Author(s) -
Imperial Julita S.,
Kantor Yuri,
Watkins Maren,
Heralde Francisco M.,
Stevenson Bradford,
Chen Ping,
Hansson Karin,
Stenflo Johan,
Ownby JohnPaul,
Bouchet Philippe,
Olivera Baldomero M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of experimental zoology part b: molecular and developmental evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-5015
pISSN - 1552-5007
DOI - 10.1002/jez.b.21195
Subject(s) - conus , biology , zoology , venom , snail , anatomy , ecology
The >10,000 living venomous marine snail species [superfamily Conoidea (Fleming, 1822)] include cone snails ( Conus ), the overwhelming focus of research. Hastula hectica (Linnaeus, 1758), a venomous snail in the family Terebridae (Mörch, 1852) was comprehensively investigated. The Terebridae comprise a major monophyletic group within Conoidea. H. hectica has a striking radular tooth to inject venom that looks like a perforated spear; in Conus , the tooth looks like a hypodermic needle. H. hectica venom contains a large complement of small disulfide‐rich peptides, but with no apparent overlap with Conus in gene superfamilies expressed. Although Conus peptide toxins are densely post‐translationally modified, no post‐translationally modified amino acids were found in any Hastula venom peptide. The results suggest that different major lineages of venomous molluscs have strikingly divergent toxinological and venom‐delivery strategies. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 308B:744–756, 2007 . © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.