Tessulatoxin, a powerful vasoactive protein from the marine snail Conus tessulatus, has been purified by affinity and electrofocusing chromatography. 2. The purified protein is almost homogeneous on slab gel electrophoresis. 3. The molecular weight of tessulatoxin is 26,000: the lethal dose for the fish Rhodeus ocellatus smithi is 1 microgram/g. 4. This toxic protein (10(-7) approximately 5 X 10(-7) g/ml) causes a marked contraction of the rabbit isolated aorta, which is inhibited by verapamil (10(-6) M).