Vokesimurex chrysostoma

Vokesimurex chrysostoma, common name the gold-mouthed murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.^[1]

Vokesimurex chrysostoma
Two shells of Vokesimurex chrysostoma (museum specimens at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Muricidae
Genus:	Vokesimurex
Species:	V. chrysostoma
Binomial name
Vokesimurex chrysostoma (Sowerby II, 1834)
Synonyms[1]
Murex bellus Reeve, 1845 Murex chrysostoma Sowerby, 1834 Murex variegatum sensu Martini Mørch, 1852

Description

The size of the shell varies between 35 mm and 80 mm.

In general appearance not unlike Siratus motacilla (Gmelin, 1791), this species presents the following distinctive characters, which appear to be permanent: it is larger, stouter, the siphonal canal is proportionally shorter and straight or but little turned to the right. There are one or two spur-like spines on the varices at the lower part of the aperture: generally on the left-hand varix and sometimes on the back varix, but very seldom on the right hand or lip varix. The lips of the aperture are tinged with more or less brilliant orange color.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs from the southern part of the Caribbean Sea to Brazil.