The shell is variable in sculpture and coloring with dark banding, in four varieties. It has a rather high spire with seven angulated whorls.

trunculus has a broadly conical shell about 4 to 10 cm long. This murex occurs in shallow, sublittoral waters. This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and the bordering parts of the western Atlantic Ocean. 1758 Phyllanotus trunculus, Truncullariopsis trunculus L., 1758.įor more information please also see the related articles: Haustellum brandaris and Tyrian purple. Synonyms for this species include: Murex trunculus, L.

One of the dye's main chemical ingredients is indigotin, and if left in the sun for a few minutes before becoming fast, its color turns to a blue indigo (like blue jeans). This species of sea snail is important historically because its hypobranchial gland secretes a mucus that the ancient Canaanites/Phoenicians used as a distinctive purple-blue indigo dye. Hexaplex trunculus (also known as Murex trunculus or the banded dye-murex) is a medium-sized species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex shells or rock snails. Murex trunculus Phyllanotus trunculus Truncullariopsis trunculus

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