Chicoreus florifer

Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer, common name : the flowery lace murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.^[1]

Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer
Shell of Chicoreus florifer from Bahamas at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Muricoidea
Family:	Muricidae
Subfamily:	Muricinae
Genus:	Chicoreus
Subgenus:	Triplex
Species:	C. florifer
Binomial name
Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer (Reeve, 1846)
Synonyms[1]
Chicoreus (Triplex) emilyae Petuch, 1987 Chicoreus dilectus (A. Adams, 1855) Chicoreus rufus Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1822 Murex arenarius Clench & Farfante, 1945 Murex dilectus A. Adams, 1855 Murex florifer Reeve, 1846 Murex rufus Lamarck, 1822 Murex salleanus A. Adams, 1854

Subspecies and formae

• Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer arenarius (f) Clench, W.J. & I. Pérez Farfante, 1945^[2]
• Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer dilectus (f) (Adams, A., 1855):^[3] the Florida lace murex (synonyms : Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer rachelcarsonae (f) Petuch, E.J., 1987; Chicoreus rachelcarsonae Petuch, E.J., 1987)
• Chicoreus (Triplex) florifer emilyae (f) Petuch, E.J., 1987^[4]

Description

The shell size varies between 35 and 93 mm (1.4 and 3.7 in). This shell is relatively elongate or fusoid and has a typical muricid outline. Three axial varices are present along its body whorl, each one ornamented by a characteristic row of leafy spines. Between the varices there is a shouldered axial rib. Aperture is small and subcircular. The outer apertural lip is dentate. The surface of the shell may be cream, pale rust-brown or deep brownish black. The interior is usually white.

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and along North Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas.