Murex trapa, common name the rare-spined murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc of the family Muricidae, the rock snails.

Distribution

This species is widespread from Madagascar and Mascarene Islands, South-Eastern India, Sri Lanka and the Andaman Sea to southern Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Southern Japan.

Habitat

Murex trapa can be found in demersal, sandy habitats.

Description

Shells of Murex trapa can reach a length of , with a diameter of .

These moderately large shells are fusiforms or club-shaped, with height and acute spire and prominent spiral ridges. Shell surface is normally light brown or blue-gray with some yellowish-brown on spines. The body whorl shows three spiny varices. The aperture is lenticular, with a white interior margin and deep red-brown within. The outer apertural lip is crenulated. The siphonal canal is straight and moderately long (about 13–47mm). Three to four short spines are restricted to the basal half of siphonal canal.

Biology

The rare-spined murex is an active predator, mainly feeding on other molluscs and barnacles.

References

Bibliography

• Cornelis Swennen, Robert Moolenbeek, N. Ruttanadakul - Molluscs of the Southern Gulf of Thailand

• F. Pinn - Sea Snails of Pondicherry

• G.E.Radwin - Murex Shells of the World: An Illustrated Guide to the Muricidae

• Houart R. (2014). Living Muricidae of the world. Muricinae. Murex, Promurex, Haustellum, Bolinus, Vokesimurex and Siratus. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 197 pp.

• Hsi-Jen Tao - Shells of Taiwan Illustrated in Colour

• Ngoc-Thach Nguyên - Shells of Vietnam

• R. Raviche lvan, T. Anandaraj and S. Ramu LENGTH –WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP of Murex trapa and Meretrix meretrix FROM MUTHUPET COASTAL WATERS IN TAMILNADU, INDIA.

• R. Tucker Abbot - Seashells of South East Asia

• Ng, T. (2015). Hong Kong Checklist of Marine Species.

External links