The size of an adult shell varies between 16 mm and 94 mm. This common species is very variable in pattern and shade of coloring and embraces a large synonymy. The moderate
spire is striate. The
body whorl is long and rather cylindrical, closely striate below. The color of the shell is white, clouded with bluish ash, orange-brown, chestnut or chocolate, everywhere encircled by narrow chocolate interrupted lines, often separated into somewhat distant dots The middle of the body whorl is usually irregularly fasciate with white. The spire is tessellated with chestnut or chocolate.
Venom use Ziconotide is a chemical derived from the
Conus magus toxin that acts as a painkiller with a potency 1000 times that of morphine. Discovered by Dr.
Baldomero Olivera at
University of Utah, it was developed for treatment of chronic and intractable pain caused by
AIDS,
cancer,
neurological disorders and other maladies, and was approved by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2004 under the name
Prialt. Ziconotide works by blocking
calcium channels in pain-transmitting nerve cells, rendering them unable to transmit pain signals to the brain. It is administered through injection into the
spinal fluid. ==Distribution==