Toxins Isolated from Sea Anemone Anthopleura

　■Introduction

　Neurotoxins have been isolated from a variety of sea anemone species and have become useful tools in physiological, pharmacological and biochemical studies．

　It has been known for a decade that a polypeptide from the Bermuda anemone Condylactis gigantea, greatly prolongs the closing（inactivation）of Na^＋ channels in crustacean（but not squid）axons．These, and other, effects can now be associated with specific polypeptides from several coelenterates．Many neurotoxins are also cardiotoxins．