The Muricidae Family includes 1989 species comprising 10 subfamilies (Ocenebrinae (49 genus), Rapaninae (33), Ergalataxinae (22), Aspellinae (20), Pagodulinae (19), Muricinae (19), ...)
and 198 genus (Favartia (115 species), Coralliophila (110), Chicoreus (102), Babelomurex (88), Murexsul (59), Dermomurex (52), ...)

Phylum      : Mollusca
 Class       : ⤷Gastropoda 
  Subclass    : ⤷Caenogastropoda 
   Order       : ⤷Neogastropoda 
    Superfamily : ⤷Muricoidea 
     Family      : ⤷Muricidae

Common name : Murex, rock and coral shell

Aspect : muricidae form a large and very diverse family comprising about ten subfamilies. Below we distinguish 2 sub-families in particular - Muricinae and Rapaninae -. The Muricinae are easily recognized as Murex. Club-shaped shell with a round opening and a more or less elongated siphonal channel. Presence, in general, of strong varicose veins in the form of bulges, bumps, folds or thorns which can be branched. The interval between varicose veins and their numbers on a turn is characteristic of each species. Rapaninae are more compact, without varicose veins and sometimes with pimples. Apex short. Presence of an anterior canal and collumellar folds

Feeding : carnivorous (mussels, clams oysters, other gastropods, barnacles, polychaete worms, and small crustaceans)

Environment : Muricidae are cosmopolitan, with high diversity in tropical and subtropical regions, particularly the Indo-Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean in rocky shores, coral reefs, sandy or muddy substrates, estuaries and mangroves; from shallow intertidal zones to deep waters down to 200 meters