Poppy Bilderbeck
An underwater photograph has people pointing out how 'foolish' but also extremely 'lucky' a Reddit user is.
If I asked you to name a list of things you'd rather not spot if paddling in the sea, you'd probably name animals such as a shark, octopus and sea snake however, there's one animal you may've not even heard of or seen before which you should potentially fear even more.
A Reddit user u/AArdvarkPaws took to thread r/animalid last month to share a photograph from their trip to the Red Sea in Egypt.
The image shows of a pair of hands underwater, holding what appears to be a shell in one of the palms.
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The user explained the photograph was 'taken a while ago' using an underwater GoPro.
"I thought I just found a very pretty seashell and was thinking about taking it home as a souvenir, but I noticed it's still alive, feeling some weight and movement inside, so I decided to at least take some pictures of it," they added.
They added: "Only months later I was told handling it like this might have been a very bad idea. Could you help me ID exactly what it was and what kind of danger I was really in? Was it realistically a threat to my life?"
The post questions: "How lucky I am to be still alive?"
Indeed, it hasn't taken long for social media users to flock to the post to point out just how lucky the person is to be alive given what they're holding in their hands isn't a shell but a textile cone snail.
A user wrote: "Are you insane?!"
"You're lucky and you're also foolish," a second commented.
A third added: "Dodged a NUKE."
Another user more helpfully wrote: "This is a textile cone snail, Conus textile. All cone snails are venomous and this species is one of those known to be dangerous to humans."
Indeed, typically 'living in the sand beneath the coral and rocks in shallow waters,' Aquarium of the Pacific details cone snails as 'one of the most venemous creatures on Earth'.
"Among the most toxic are the textile, geographic, and tulip snails and there is a higher risk of death if the geographic and textile snails are involved," it adds. "All capture their prey by means of harpoon-like hollow teeth (radula) that are rapidly jabbed into their prey to inject the toxic venom."
And attacks on humans? Well, they typically occur when a cone snail is either 'stepped on' or picked up from the beach or water.
U/AArdvarkPaws noted they'd ultimately been a bit preoccupied worrying about 'sharks, jellyfish' and other more obvious animals and 'didn't think for a moment about danger from this'.
"I'll certainly never pick one up again," they resolved, however, they questioned just what would actually happen, medically speaking, should they be attacked by a cone snail.
Well, the National Library of Medicine notes it depends on the species of snail and the victim themself, but the pain can range from 'a sharp pricking sensation to unbearable pain'.
The sting can lead to local numbness or it can spread to 'entire regions of the body,' alongside progressing from 'initial weakness, sweating and visual changes to generalized muscle paralysis, respiratory failure, cardiovascular collapse and coma'.
"If a patient is untreated, death is rapid and often occurs within one to five hours. Less severe envenomations, resulting from contact with a molluscivore and vermivorous species, are milder in their toxic effects," it warns. "These effects are also variable and may include numbness, paresthesias, and limb immobility."
Basically, don't pick up any cone-shaped 'shells' from the ocean bed - or disturb anything at all from the sea for that matter - but should you end up stung by a cone snail, you should rush to hospital as soon as you can.