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Updated 12/2/2025

Family Muricidae

Murex & Drupes

These animals feed upon other mollusks by drilling with the radula and secreting acid to burn through the shell, leaving a small round hole as evidence.  A few feed upon living corals using acid alone.  The animals create a green fluid that dries purple.  Ancient Romans used to crush hundreds of murex to create this royal dye.  Family Thaididae has been combined into the Muricidae.
Most have spiny shells and attractive colors popular with collectors.  They are found in habitats where their favorite prey occurs, including the intertidal zone, estuaries, mudflats, sand, boulders, and reefs to deep water.  Murex in Hawaii are rare at scuba depths but diverse and plentiful elsewhere while drupes are ubiquitous on shallow reefs and rocky shores.  Shells are usually heavily encrusted with organisms and better ones may be cleaned by soaking in bleach, followed by lots of scraping and scrubbing with a stainless-steel brush.

The Coralliophilids are now considered a subfamily of the Muricidae. 

 

HAWAII - ENDEMIC

Chicoreus insularum

Hawaiian Burnt Murex, Oahu

HAWAIIAN BURNT MUREX

 

 Neothais harpa

HARP DRUPE 

 
Vitularia sandwicensis

HAWAIIAN VITULARIA 

 

 Favartia garrettii

GARRETT'S MUREX

 
Amplidrupa aperta

OPEN DRUPE 

 

 Morula porphyrostoma

PURPLE-MOUTH DRUPE 

 

INDO-PACIFIC / HAWAII

Aspella producta

ELONGATE ASPELLA

 

 Drupa morum

MULBERRY DRUPE

 
Sistrum albolabris

WHITE-LIPPED DRUPE

 

Sistrum ricinus var. arachnoides

GOLDRING DRUPE

 

Ricinella rubusidaeus

STRAWBERRY DRUPE

 

 Drupina grossularia

FINGER DRUPE

 
Morula uva

GRAPE DRUPE

 

 Arakawania granulata

GRANULATED DRUPE

 
Drupella cornus

ELATED or HORN DRUPE

 

 Mancinella armigera

BELLIGERENT DRUPE

 
Morula echinata

ORANGE DRUPE

 

Pascula muricata

ORANGE-MOUTH DRUPE

 
Morula fuscoimbricata

BROWN-SCALED DRUPE

 

 Semiricinula turbinoides

BROWN-MOUTH DRUPE

 

Murichorda fiscellum

BASKET DRUPE

 

 Cytharomorula lefevreiana

LEFEVRE'S DRUPE

 
Menathais intermedia

INTERMEDIATE DRUPE

 

 Orania pacifica

PACIFIC DRUPE

 
Maculotriton serriale

SPOTTED TRITON DRUPE

 

 Usilla avenacea

CORDED VEXILLA

 
Vexilla vexillum

FLAG or RIBBON VEXILLA

 

 Vexilla taeniata

LINED VEXILLA

 
Pinaxia versicolor

COLORFUL DRUPE

 

 Nassa tuamotuensis

GARLAND DRUPE

 

Homalocantha pele

PELE'S MUREX

 

Pterynotus elongatus

ELONGATE or CLUB MUREX

 

INDO-PACIFIC

Chicoreus brunneus

BURNT or ADUSTA MUREX

 

 Drupella margariticola

SHOULDERED CASTOR BEAN

NORTHEAST PACIFIC

Nucella emarginata

EMARGINATE DOG-WINKLE

 

 Nucella lamellosa

FRILLED DOG-WINKLE

 
Maxwellia gemma

GEM MUREX

 

 Ceratostoma foliatum

LEAFY HORNMOUTH

TROPICAL WEST ATLANTIC

Phyllonotus pomum

APPLE MUREX

 

 

Subfamily Coralliophilinae

Coral-loving Shells

Some of these cryptic snails live and feed upon live corals.  They inhabit a home scar or burrow by devouring coral tissue and chemically eroding the skeleton.  Beautiful, highly-prized Latiaxis and Babelomurex are dredged from very deep-water.

 

INDO-PACIFIC / HAWAII

Coralliophila elaborata

 

ELABORATE CORAL-LOVING SHELL

 

 Coralliophila erosa

ERODED CORAL-LOVING SHELL

 
Coralliophila violacea

VIOLET-MOUTHED CORAL-LOVING SHELL

 

 Coralliophila fimbriata

FRINGED CORAL-LOVING SHELL

 
Galeropsis monodonta

SINGLE-TOOTHED CORAL-LOVING SHELL