Murex trapa

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.^[1]

Murex trapa
Murex trapa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Muricidae
Genus:	Murex
Species:	M. trapa
Binomial name
Murex trapa Röding, 1798
Synonyms[1]
Murex (Murex) trapa Röding, 1798 · accepted, alternate representation Murex duplicatus sensu Chemnitz Pusch, 1837 (invalid: junior homonym of Murex duplicatus Donovan, 1804) Murex martinianus Reeve, 1845 Murex rarispina Lamarck, 1822 Murex unindentatus Sowerby, 1834

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.^[2][3]

Habitat

Murex trapa can be found in demersal, sandy habitats.

A shell of Murex trapa from Mauritius, on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano

Description

Shells of Murex trapa can reach a length of 50–124 millimetres (2.0–4.9 in), with a diameter of 8–21 millimetres (0.31–0.83 in).^[2]

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 sipholal canal is straight and moderately long (about 13–47 mm). Three to four short spines are restricted to the basal half of siphonal canal.^[4][5][6]

Biology

The rare-spined murex is an active predator, mainly feeding on other molluscs and barnacles.^[6]