The chicken heart conch is the taro conch.

The body of the snail is inverted conical and extremely sturdy, and is shaped like a chicken's heart or a taro head, hence its name. The chicken heart snail can grow to a maximum length of over 20 centimeters, and although it is small, it is a predator, usually feeding on small fish and other mollusks.

It is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical oceans of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, mainly in the coral reefs of Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, and the South China Sea islands in China, and off the coast of Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia in foreign countries.

The chicken heart snail mainly lives in tropical warm areas, usually in shallow water near coral reefs or rock formations. The chicken heart snail has a bright and beautiful pattern, and the different colors of the pattern make it almost difficult to find two identical snails.

Hunting Habits

The chicken heart snail only comes out at night, and when it hunts, it buries its body in the sand, leaving only its long snout exposed. This not only allows it to obtain oxygen, but also to monitor the movements of its prey. The tip of the snout hides a small opening through which a poisoned needle, scientifically called a harpoon, can be shot out, killing the victim.

The snail has a flexible "hypodermic syringe" attached to a sac containing toxins that can be rapidly injected into prey within seconds. The fish relies on its biological nervous system to control its body before being attacked by the snail.

It takes less than a second for the chicken heart snail to stop the fish from struggling after inserting its needle into the fish's body. Immediately afterward, the toxin launches its first round of attack, quickly accessing the chemical valves that control the fish's nerve signals, leaving the valves open for an extended period of time as the toxin continues to invade the fish's body.

Reference for the above: Baidu Encyclopedia-Chicken Heart Snail