Genus of gastropods
Murex
Apertural view of the shell of
Venus comb murex , Murex pecten , anterior end towards the bottom of the page
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
Subclass:
Caenogastropoda
Order:
Neogastropoda
Family:
Muricidae
Subfamily:
Muricinae
Genus:
Murex
Linnaeus ,
1758
Type species
Murex tribulus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
[1]
Acupurpura
Jousseaume , 1880
Aranea
Perry , 1810 (Invalid: junior homonym of Aranea
Linnaeus ,
1758 [Arachnida] )
Murex (Murex) Linnaeus, 1758· accepted, alternate representation
Murex (Promurex) Ponder & Vokes, 1988 · accepted, alternate representation
Murex (Tubicauda) Jousseaume, 1880 junior subjective synonym
† Muricites Schlotheim, 1820 (Invalid under Art. 20: name established for fossils, formed by adding the suffix -ites to the genus name Murex.)
Tubicauda
Jousseaume , 1880
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".
[1]
The common name murex is still used for many species in the family
Muricidae 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 in reference to these kinds of snails,[
citation needed ] 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 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.
[2]
Murex altispira
Fossil shell of Murex spinicosta from
Pliocene of Italy
Distribution
Murex is solely an
Indo-Pacific genus, as demonstrated by
Ponder & Vokes (1988). The species from the western
Atlantic that were formerly considered to belong to the genus Murex are now placed in the genus
Haustellum .[
citation needed ]
Habitat
Most Murex species live in the
intertidal or shallow subtidal zone, among rocks and corals.[
citation needed ]
Shell description
This genus includes many showy members, their elongate shells highly
sculptured with spines or fronds. The inner surfaces of their ornate shells are often brightly colored.[
citation needed ]
Human use
Costly and labor-intensive dyes
Tyrian purple (or "royal purple") and
tekhelet were historically made by the ancient
Phoenicians and
Jews respectively, using mucus from the
hypobranchial gland of two species commonly referred to as "murex", Murex brandaris and Murex trunculus , which are the older names for
Bolinus brandaris and
Hexaplex trunculus .
[3] This dye is a rare animal-produced
organobromine compound , which the snails make using a specific
bromide peroxidase enzyme that operates on dissolved
bromide in sea water.
[4]
This dye was used in
royal robes, other kinds of special
ceremonial or ritual garments, or garments indicating high
rank . 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 of Israel officiating there; it is sometimes still used by Jews today in the ritual fringes (
tzitzit ) on four-cornered garments.
[5] A consensus has yet to be reached regarding the Biblical source of the "blue" dye.
Species
The genus Murex , as originally defined by
Linnaeus , encompassed many taxa that are now placed elsewhere in the superfamily
Muricoidea . During the 19th century, the definition of Murex was restricted by
Lamarck and his contemporaries first to species in the family Muricidae, and then was limited even further to the subfamilies
Muricinae and
Ocenebrinae . 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 (WoRMS) lists the following species with accepted names within the genus Murex . The subgenera are considered alternate representations.
[6]
Murex acanthostephes Watson, 1883
[7]
Murex aduncospinosus G.B. Sowerby II, 1841 :
[8]
Murex africanus Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[9]
Murex altispira Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[10]
Caltrop murex
Murex antelmei Viader, 1938
†
Murex bonneti Cossmann, 1903
Murex brevispina Lamarck, 1822
Short-spined murex
†
Murex camplytropis Tate, 1888
Murex carbonnieri (Jousseaume, 1881)
[11]
Carbonnier's murex
Murex concinnus Reeve, 1845
[12]
Murex coppingeri E. A. Smith, 1884
[13]
†
Murex crassiliratus Tate, 1888
Murex djarianensis Martin, 1895
Murex echinodes Houart, 2011
Murex falsitribulus Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[15]
Murex forskoehlio Röding, 1798
[16]
†
Murex grooti H. M. Jenkins, 1864
†
Murex guppyi Ladd, 1977
†
Murex halli d'Archiac & Haime, 1854
Murex huangi Houart, 2010
Murex hystricosus Houart & Dharma, 2001
[17]
Murex indicus Houart, 2011
†
Murex irregularis Tate, 1888
Murex kerslakae Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[18]
†
Murex lyelli d'Archiac & Haime, 1854 (accepted > unreplaced junior homonym)
Murex megapex Neubert, 1998
[19]
†
Murex minutus R. M. Johnston, 1880
†
Murex nasongoensis Ladd, 1977
†
Murex noae Holten, 1802
Murex occa G.B. Sowerby II, 1834
[20] Harrowed murex
†
Murex paradoxicus H. M. Jenkins, 1864
Murex pecten Lightfoot, 1786
[21] ':
Venus comb murex
Murex philippinensis Parth, 1994
[22]
Murex protocrassus Houart, 1990
Murex queenslandicus Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[23]
†
Murex roemeri d'Archiac & Haime, 1854
Murex salomonensis Parth, 1994
[24]
Murex scolopax Dillwyn, 1817
[25]
False venus comb , woodcock murex
Murex somalicus Parth, 1990
[26]
Murex spectabilis Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[27]
Murex spicatus Ponder & Vokes, 1988
[28]
Murex spinastreptos Houart, 2010
†
Murex spinicosta Bronn, 1831
Murex surinamensis Okutani, 1982
[29]
Murex suttipraneeae Gra-tes, 2023
†
Murex tchihatcheffi d'Archiac & Haime, 1854
Murex tenuirostrum Lamarck, 1822
[30]
Murex ternispina Lamarck, 1822
[31]
Murex trapa Roding, 1798
[32]
Rare-spined murex
Murex tribulus
Linnaeus , 1758 ,
1758 :
[33]
Caltrop murex
Murex troscheli Lischke, 1868
[34] Troschel's murex
Species mentioned as species in current use in the Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database (OBIS)
Species brought into synonymy
Murex aedonius Watson, 1896:
[36] 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:
[37] 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 :
[38] synonym of
Vokesimurex blakeanus (Vokes, 1967)
Murex brandaris Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of
Bolinus brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Murex canaliculatus Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of
Busycotypus canaliculatus (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 :
[39] synonym of
Ocinebrina edwardsii (Payraudeau, 1826)
Murex garciai Petuch, 1987: synonym of
Vokesimurex garciai (Petuch, 1987)
Murex gubbi Reeve, 1849:
[40] synonym of
Chicocenebra gubbi (Reeve, 1849)
Murex inconspicuus G.B. Sowerby II, 1841: synonym of
Ocinebrina aciculata (Lamarck, 1822)
Murex intertextus Helbling, 1779:
[41] 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:
[42] synonym of
Fusinus maroccensis
Murex monodon Sowerby, 1825:
[43] synonym of
Chicoreus (Chicoreus) cornucervi (Röding, 1798)
Murex nassa Gmelin, 1791:
[44] synonym of
Leucozonia nassa (Gmelin, 1791)
Murex nebula Montagu, 1803 : synonym of
Bela nebula (Montagu, 1803)
Murex peritus Hinds, 1844a:
[45] synonym of
Favartia (Favartia) perita (Hinds, 1844)
Murex pistacia Reeve, 1845: synonym of
Ocinebrina aciculata (Lamarck, 1822)
Murex purpuroides Dunker:
[46] synonym of
Vaughtia purpuroides (Reeve, 1845)
Murex recurvirostris :
[47] synonym of
Vokesimurex recurvirostrum (Broderip, 1833)
Murex rota Sowerby:
[48] synonym of
Homalocantha anatomica (Perry, 1811)
Murex rubidus :
[49] 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:
[50] synonym of †
Rimosodaphnella textilis (Brocchi, 1814)
Murex triqueter :
[51] synonym of
Naquetia triqueter (Born, 1778)
Murex tulipa Linnaeus, 1758:
[52] synonym of
Fasciolaria tulipa (Linnaeus, 1758)
Murex turbinellus Linnaeus, 1758: synonym of
Vasum turbinellus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Murex vittatus Broderip, 1833:
[53] synonym of
Favartia (Favartia) vittata (Broderip, 1833)
References
^
a
b 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
^
Fossilworks
^ Sukenik, Naama; Iluz, David; Amar, Zohar; Varvak, Alexander; Shamir, Orit; Ben-Yosef, Erez (2021).
"Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel)" . PLOS ONE . 16 (1): e0245897.
Bibcode :
2021PLoSO..1645897S .
doi :
10.1371/journal.pone.0245897 .
PMC
7842898 .
PMID
33507987 .
^ Jannun R., Nuwayhid N. and Coe E. (1981) Biological bromination – bromoperoxidase activity in the Murex sea-snail. FASEB. J. 40, 1774.
^
Tekhelet - Biblical Blue Dye for Tzitzit
^
WoRMS : Murex 23 December 2010
^
Murex acanthostephes Watson, 1883 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^ ^
Houart, R. (2009). Murex aduncospinosus Sowerby, 1841. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215644 on 2010-08-06
^
Murex africanus Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex altispira Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex carbonnieri (Jousseaume, 1881) . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex concinnus Reeve, 1845 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex coppingeri E. A. Smith, 1884 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Houart, R. (2009). Murex djarianensis poppei Houart, 1979. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=404977 on 2010-08-06
^
Murex falsitribulus Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex forskoehli Röding, 1798 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex hystricosus Houart & Dharma, 2001 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex kerslakae Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex megapex Neubert, 1998 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex occa Sowerby, 1834 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex pecten Lightfoot, 1786 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex philippinensis Parth, 1994 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex queenslandicus Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex salomonensis Parth, 1994 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex scolopax Dillwyn, 1817 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex somalicus Parth, 1990 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex spectabilis Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex spicatus Ponder & Vokes, 1988 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex surinamensis Okutani, 1982 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex tenuirostrum Lamarck, 1822 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex ternispina Lamarck, 1822 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex trapa Roding, 1798 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex tribulus Linnaeus, 1758 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex troscheli Lischke, 1868 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database : Murex (Murex) singaporensis
^
Murex aedonius Watson, 1896 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex argo Clench & Farfante, 1945 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex blakeanus Vokes, 1967 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex edwardsi . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex gubbi Reeve, 1849 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex intertextus Helbling, 1779 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex maroccensis Gmelin, 1791 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex monodon Sowerby, 1841 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex nassa Gmelin, 1791 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex peritus Hinds, 1844a . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex purpuroides Dunker . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex recurvirostris . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex rota Sowerby . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex rubidus . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex textilis Gabb, 1873 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex triqueter . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex tulipa Linnaeus, 1758 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
^
Murex vittatus Broderip, 1833 . Retrieved through:
World Register of Marine Species on 25 April 2010.
Merle, D., Garrigues, B. & Pointier, J.-P. 2011. Fossil and Recent Muricidae of the World, Part Muricinae. 648 pp., 182 colour plates, Hackenheim.
ISBN
978-3-939767-32-9 .
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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Murex .