Banded Dye-murex

Mollusc

Identification & Biology

• IdentificationA large, robust sea snail with a heavy, ornate shell featuring prominent ridges and knobs. The shell colour ranges from cream to pale brown. The interior of the shell opening (aperture) is a deep, vivid purple. Historically the source of Tyrian purple dye.
• SizeShell length up to 10 cm. A substantial and easily noticed gastropod.
• Social HabitCan be solitary or found in aggregations, especially during breeding season when they form communal egg-laying clusters. Slow-moving predator.
• HabitatRocky reefs, sandy bottoms near rocks, and seagrass meadows. Found on a variety of substrates.
• Depth0 to 100 m. Most common between 2 and 30 m.
• Feeds OnOther molluscs, particularly bivalves and gastropods. Drills through prey shells using a specialised radula (tongue-like organ) and acidic secretions.
• DistributionEastern Atlantic and throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Common in Maltese waters.
• DescriptionHexaplex trunculus has a remarkable place in human history. The Phoenicians extracted the famous Tyrian purple dye from the hypobranchial gland of this snail, producing a colour so rare and expensive it became the exclusive mark of royalty and emperors. Thousands of shells were needed to produce a single gram of dye. In Malta, the species is still common on rocky reefs and is often seen by divers.