Where do seashell stores get their shells?

[JackSullivan]

In many parts of the world, only a few species of mollusks are usually eaten.  But in other parts of the world, just about anything that comes out of the ocean may be eaten

The large fish-hunting cones have extremely toxic venoms associated with their mouth parts. Getting stung by a live one could mean a rather unpleasant demise from respiratory paralysis. I Googled 'deaths caused by eating cone snails' & came up blank. Like the natives who instinctively headed for high ground when the ocean first retreated during the sunami that devastated Phuket, there likely is a cultural heritage of knowledge about how to handle & properly prepare these critters. One of the larger fish-hunters could make a meal if handled in the right way. A little butter, a little garlic.... Mmmm... Tropical escargots.

On vacation in St. Martin some years ago a native caught a big conch & turned it into a souvenir by repeatedly throwing it onto the hard beach sand until the critter crawled out & died. I could have skipped that performance as I felt saddened by it.