''Murex'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of medium to large sized

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family

Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With about 1,600 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neoga ...

, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2010). Murex Linnaeus, 1758. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138196 on 2011-04-09 The common name murex is still used for many species in the family

which were originally given the Latin generic name ''Murex'' in the past, but have more recently been regrouped into different newer genera. The word ''murex'' was used by

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

in reference to these kinds of snails, thus making it one of the oldest classical seashell names still in use by the scientific community.

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

to the Quaternary (age range: from 125.45 to 0.0 million years ago). Fossils of species within this genus have been found all over the world. There are about 25 known extinct species.Fossilworks
/ref> Murex altispira 001

Distribution

''Murex'' is solely an Indo-Pacific genus, as demonstrated by Ponder & Vokes (1988). The species from the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

that were formerly considered to belong to the genus ''Murex'' are now placed in the genus ''

Haustellum ''Haustellum'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Like many other genera within the Muricidae, the genus has been redefined several times. Ponder & Vokes (19 ...

''.

Habitat

Most ''Murex'' species live in the

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

or shallow subtidal zone, among rocks and corals.

Shell description

This genus includes many showy members, their elongate shells highly

sculptured Sculptured is an American experimental and progressive metal band, mixing melodic and atonal segments. Biography Following the dissolution of his previous band, guitarist Don Anderson began Sculptured as mostly a one-man project in 1996. With ...

with spines or fronds. The inner surfaces of their ornate shells are often brightly colored.

Human use

Costly and labor-intensive dyes

Tyrian purple Tyrian purple ( grc, πορφύρα ''porphúra''; la, purpura), also known as Phoenician red, Phoenician purple, royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon. It i ...

(or

royal purple Tyrian purple ( grc, πορφύρα ''porphúra''; la, purpura), also known as Phoenician red, Phoenician purple, royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon. It is ...

) and

tekhelet ''Tekhelet'' ( he, תְּכֵלֶת ''təḵēleṯ''; alternate spellings include ''tekheleth'', ''t'chelet'', ''techelet'' and ''techeiles'') is a "blue-violet", "blue", or "turquoise" dye highly prized by ancient Mediterranean civilizations. I ...

were historically made by the ancient

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

and

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

respectively, using mucus from the

hypobranchial gland The hypobranchial gland is a glandular structure which is part of the anatomy of many mollusks, including several different families of gastropods, and also many protobranch bivalves. This gland produces mucus as well as biologically active compo ...

of two species commonly referred to as "murex", ''Murex brandaris'' and ''Murex trunculus'', which are the older names for '' Haustellum brandaris'' ('' Bolinus brandaris'') and ''

Hexaplex trunculus ''Hexaplex trunculus'' (previously known as ''Murex trunculus'', ''Phyllonotus trunculus'', or the banded dye-murex) is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex shells or rock snails. It is included ...

'' (''Phyllonatus trunculus''). This dye is a rare animal-produced

organobromine compound Organobromine compounds, also called organobromides, are organic compounds that contain carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons avai ...

, which the snails make using a specific

bromoperoxidase Bromide peroxidase (, ''bromoperoxidase'', ''haloperoxidase (ambiguous)'', ''eosinophil peroxidase'') is a family of enzymes with systematic name ''bromide:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase''. These enzymes catalyses the following chemical reacti ...

enzyme that operates on dissolved

bromide A bromide ion is the negatively charged form (Br−) of the element bromine, a member of the halogens group on the periodic table. Most bromides are colorless. Bromides have many practical roles, being found in anticonvulsants, flame-retardant ...

in sea water. This dye was used in

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

robes, other kinds of special

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular ...

or ritual garments, or garments indicating high

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

. It is hypothesised that the dye was the same dye as that which featured prominently in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, the clothing of the High Priest (or

Kohen Gadol High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post- Exilic times until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Previousl ...

) officiating there; it is sometimes still used by Jews today in the ritual fringes (

tzitzit ''Tzitzit'' ( he, ''ṣīṣīṯ'', ; plural ''ṣīṣiyyōṯ'', Ashkenazi: '; and Samaritan: ') are specially knotted ritual fringes, or tassels, worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by observant Jews and Samaritans. are usuall ...

) on four-cornered garments. A consensus has yet to be reached regarding the Biblical source of the "blue" dye.

Species

The genus ''Murex'', as originally defined by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, encompassed many taxa that are now placed elsewhere in the superfamily

Muricoidea Neogastropoda is an order of sea snails, both freshwater and marine gastropod molluscs. Description The available fossil record of Neogastropoda is relatively complete, and supports a widely accepted evolutionary scenario of an Early Cr ...

. During the 19th century, the definition of ''Murex'' was restricted by

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

and his contemporaries first to species in the family Muricidae, and then was limited even further to the subfamilies

Muricinae Muricinae is a taxonomic subfamily of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the large family Muricidae, the murex snails and rock snails. The Muricinae represent approximately 780 valid names of fossil (378) and recent (400 ...

and

Ocenebrinae Ocenebrinae is a taxonomic subfamily of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This subfamily is within the large family Muricidae, which are commonly known as the murex and rock snails. In one other version of current gastropod t ...

. Malacologists of the 19th century including Kiener, Reeve, Küster & Kobelt and Sowerby treated all muricoid forms as belonging to ''Murex''. This is the main reason why ''Murex'' has so many synonyms. The

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialis ...

(WoRMS), lists the following species with accepted names within the genus ''Murex''. The subgenera are considered alternate representations. * '' Murex acanthostephes'' Watson, 1883 * '' Murex aduncospinosus'' G.B. Sowerby II, 1841: * '' Murex africanus'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex altispira'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 Caltrop murex * '' Murex antelmei'' Viader, 1938 * '' Murex brevispina'' Lamarck, 1822 Short-spined murex * '' Murex carbonnieri'' (Jousseaume, 1881) Carbonnier's murex * '' Murex concinnus'' Reeve, 1845 * '' Murex coppingeri'' E. A. Smith, 1884 * '' Murex djarianensis'' Martin, 1895 ** '' Murex djarianensis poppei'' (synonym : ''Murex (Murex) poppei'' Houart, 1979) * '' Murex echinoides'' Houart, 2011 * '' Murex falsitribulus'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex forskoehlio'' Röding, 1798 * '' Murex huangi'' Houart, 2010 * '' Murex hystricosus'' Houart & Dharma, 2001 * '' Murex indicus'' Houart, 2011 * '' Murex kerslakae'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex megapex'' Neubert, 1998 * † ''

Murex noae ''Murex'' is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2010). Murex Linnaeus, ...

'' Holten, 1802 * '' Murex occa'' G.B. Sowerby II, 1834 Harrowed murex * '' Murex pecten'' Lightfoot, 1786 ':

Venus comb murex The Venus comb murex, scientific name ''Murex pecten'', is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the rock snails or murex snails. The shell of this Indo-Pacific species has a very long siph ...

** '' Murex pecten soelae'' * '' Murex philippinensis'' Parth, 1994 * '' Murex protocrassus'' Houart, 1990 * '' Murex queenslandicus'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex salomonensis'' Parth, 1994 * '' Murex scolopax'' Dillwyn, 1817 False venus comb, woodcock murex * '' Murex somalicus'' Parth, 1990 * '' Murex spectabilis'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex spicatus'' Ponder & Vokes, 1988 * '' Murex spinastreptos'' Houart, 2010 * '' Murex surinamensis'' Okutani, 1982 * '' Murex tenuirostrum'' Lamarck, 1822 * '' Murex ternispina'' Lamarck, 1822 * ''

Murex trapa ''Murex trapa'', common name the rare-spined murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc of the family Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod moll ...

'' Roding, 1798 Rare-spined murex * '' Murex tribulus''

, 1758, 1758: Caltrop murex ** '' Murex tribulus spicatus'' ** '' Murex tribulus tenuirostrum'' ** '' Murex tribulus tenuirostrum africanus'' ** '' Murex tribulus ternispina'' * '' Murex troscheli'' Lischke, 1868 Troschel's murex ;Species mentioned as species in current use in the Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database (OBIS) : * '' Murex singaporensis'' A.Adams, 1853 ;Species brought into synonymy : * ''Murex aedonius'' Watson, 1896: synonym of '' Coralliophila aedonia'' (Watson, 1885) * ''Murex afer'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Afer afer'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Murex alocatus'': synonym of '' Pterymarchia barclayana'' (H. Adams, 1873) * ''Murex antillarum'' : Antilles murex: synonym of '' Siratus articulatus'' (Reeve, 1845) * ''Murex argo'' Clench & Farfante, 1945: synonym of '' Chicoreus (Triplex) spectrum'' (Reeve, 1846) * ''Murex belcheri'' Hinds, 1843 : synonym of '' Forreria belcheri'' (Hinds, 1843) * ''Murex bellus'' Reeve, 1845: synonym of '' Vokesimurex bellus'' (Reeve, 1845) * ''Murex blakeanus'' Vokes, 1967: synonym of '' Vokesimurex blakeanus'' (Vokes, 1967) * ''Murex brandaris'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of '' Bolinus brandaris'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex canaliculatus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Busycotypus canaliculatus ''Busycotypus canaliculatus'', commonly known as the channeled whelk, is a very large predatory sea snail, a marine prosobranch gastropod, a busycon whelk, belonging to the family Busyconidae.Fraussen, K.; Rosenberg, G. (2012). Busycotypus ca ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex capitellum'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of '' Vasum capitellum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex corallinus'' Scacchi, 1836: synonym of '' Ocinebrina aciculata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Murex corneus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of '' Euthria cornea'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex coronatus'' Born, 1778: synonym of '' Pseudovertagus aluco'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex edwardsii'': synonym of ''

Ocinebrina edwardsii ''Ocinebrina edwardsii'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Description The shell size varies between 12 mm and 20 mm. Distribution This species is dist ...

'' (Payraudeau, 1826) * ''Murex garciai'' Petuch, 1987: synonym of '' Vokesimurex garciai'' (Petuch, 1987) * ''Murex gubbi'' Reeve, 1849: synonym of '' Chicocenebra gubbi'' (Reeve, 1849) * ''Murex inconspicuus'' G.B. Sowerby II, 1841: synonym of '' Ocinebrina aciculata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Murex intertextus'' Helbling, 1779: synonym of'' Cumia reticulata'' * ''Murex jickelii'' Tapparone Canefri, 1875: synonym of '' Naquetia jickelii'' (Tapparone Canefri, 1875) * ''Murex lindajoycae'' Petuch, 1987: synonym of '' Vokesimurex lindajoycae'' (Petuch, 1987) * ''Murex longicornis'' Dunker, 1864: synonym of '' Chicoreus longicornis'' (Dunker, 1864) * ''Murex maroccensis'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of Fusinus maroccensis * ''Murex monodon'' Sowerby, 1825: synonym of '' Chicoreus (Chicoreus) cornucervi'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Murex nassa'' Gmelin, 1791: synonym of '' Leucozonia nassa'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Murex nebula'' Montagu, 1803: synonym of '' Bela nebula'' (Montagu, 1803) * ''Murex peritus'' Hinds, 1844a: synonym of '' Favartia (Favartia) perita'' (Hinds, 1844) * ''Murex pistacia'' Reeve, 1845: synonym of '' Ocinebrina aciculata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Murex purpuroides'' Dunker: synonym of '' Vaughtia purpuroides'' (Reeve, 1845) * ''Murex recurvirostris'': synonym of '' Vokesimurex recurvirostrum'' (Broderip, 1833) * ''Murex rota'' Sowerby: synonym of '' Homalocantha anatomica'' (Perry, 1811) * ''Murex rubidus'': synonym of '' Vokesimurex rubidus'' (F.C. Baker, 1897) * ''Murex serratospinosus'' Dunker, 1883: synonym of '' Vokesimurex mindanaoensis'' (G.B. Sowerby II, 1841) * ''Murex subaciculatus'' Locard, 1886: synonym of '' Ocinebrina aciculata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Murex taxus'' Dillwyn, 1817: synonym of '' Clavatula taxea'' (Röding, 1798) * † ''Murex textilis'' Brocchi, 1814: synonym of † '' Rimosodaphnella textilis'' (Brocchi, 1814) * ''Murex triqueter'': synonym of'' Naquetia triqueter'' (Born, 1778) * ''Murex tulipa'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of ''

Fasciolaria tulipa ''Fasciolaria tulipa'', common name the true tulip, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fasciolariidae. Distribution This species occurs from the North Carolina coast all the way south and west to the Gul ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex turbinellus'' Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of '' Vasum turbinellus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Murex vittatus'' Broderip, 1833: synonym of '' Favartia (Favartia) vittata'' (Broderip, 1833)

References

* Merle, D., Garrigues, B. & Pointier, J.-P. 2011. Fossil and Recent Muricidae of the World, Part Muricinae. 648 pp., 182 colour plates, Hackenheim. . * Ponder, W.F. & E.H. Vokes. 1988. A revision of the Indo-West Pacific fossil and Recent species of Murex s.s. and Haustellum (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Muricidae). ''Records of the Australian Museum'', Supplement 8. 160 pp.

External links

Aristotle, 350 B.C.E. ''A history of animals''
{{taxonbar, from=Q311512 Muricidae Extant Cretaceous first appearances Gastropod genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus