Let's talk about snails, commonly known as snails, which are produced in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. Snails are characterized by a sharp and slender tail, about 1 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, which is about the size of a fingernail.

Weaving snail itself is non-toxic, and its fatal toxicity is poisoning after ingesting toxic algae in red tide. The main toxin of food poisoning caused by this snail is paralytic shellfish toxin, which is similar to tetrodotoxin. ? Due to the massive discharge of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage, seawater is eutrophic, and red tides frequently occur in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea in different seasons. Some algae that breed in red tides produce toxins, while snails are rich in toxins because they eat toxic algae or other toxic substances (such as tetrodotoxin). Poisoning patients mainly have symptoms of nerve paralysis, and the mortality rate is high.

In addition, the sea melon seeds that Shandong people often eat are also called conch, and the scientific name is blunt crab snail, which is a kind of conchidae. The shell is tower-shaped, about 2 cm long, and its shell is slightly thin and solid, usually with eight spiral layers, with a yellow-white shell surface and a white shell bottom, an oval shell mouth and a furrow-like inner surface. Most of them live in the middle and upper tidal zone of intertidal zone, crawl on mudflats or mudflats in intertidal zone after low tide, or hide in the shade beside rocks, with an average habitat density of 4/m2, which is distributed along the coast of the Yellow Sea for rivers to enter. Many fishermen go fishing at low tide.

The blunt crab guarding snails has an awl-like tip, so people call it a sea cone. Qingdao people call it sea melon seeds, which are usually boiled in water. Take it out when guests come, just like people in the city eat melon seeds. Meat is delicious, and they are generally very picky about food with needles. Don't break the tail of the melon seeds until you can eat them. Suck them with your mouth. Snail meat is only a little size, but the fresh and tender taste is probably irreplaceable.

Melon seeds and conch are similar in appearance, and it is difficult to see the difference, but there are still some differences in color. Melon seeds are yellow and conch is gray-black, so you can distinguish them according to their colors when you buy them.