Natures wonders: snails lure worms for a meal (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, March 12, 2021, 20:14 (1350 days ago) @ David Turell

The worms react to a sex pheromone from the snails:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cone-snail-venom-sea-worms-pheromones

"Conus imperialis venom contains two molecules that mimic bristle worm pheromones and can stimulate mating behaviors, researchers report March 12 in Science Advances. The find raises the possibility that the cone snails are “weaponizing the worms’ own pheromone as a sort of lure,”says Joshua Torres, a medicinal chemist at the University of Copenhagen. “It’s really wild.”

"Cone snails pack their potent venom into self-made harpoons, which they then fling into fish, mollusks or worms. The venom of each of the more than 700 cone snail species is a treasure trove of chemicals that hijack specific physiological pathways in their prey. For example, one cone snail species produces its own fish insulin that saps prey’s blood sugar, making a lethargic target.

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"...these small molecules didn’t seem to target neuromuscular pathways and impair their function, like many venom constituents. But the molecules were remarkably similar to some bristle worm’s mating pheromones. Chemically, the snail’s mimics are actually more stable than the worm’s natural pheromones, which degrade relatively quickly after release, Torres says. The match seemed too perfect to be coincidental.

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“'Cone snails are full of surprises, and this paper raises an exciting possibility,” says Thomas Duda, a zoologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who wasn’t involved in the study. “The next step needs to be figuring out how this actually works in nature.”

"C. imperialis’ hunting behavior is mostly known from laboratory studies, where the worms are sitting ducks for snails, Torres says. In the wild, however, the worms spend time hidden below sediment and under crevices. Observations in more natural settings could confirm whether C. imperialis’ specialized venom entices worms with the promise of a mate, only to become a meal."

Comment: What is interesting to me is how does a very different species learn to mimic another's special molecules. Making any biochemical molecule is very complex and usually requires specialized enzymes. Remembering how large and complex enzymes have to be I would say God does this designing.