Hexaplex trunculus

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Species of gastropod

title: "Hexaplex trunculus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hexaplex", "gastropods-described-in-1758"] description: "Species of gastropod" topic_path: "general/hexaplex" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexaplex_trunculus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of gastropod ::

| fossil_range = | image = Hexaplex-trunculus-Purpurschnecke.jpg | image_caption = | image2 = Hexaplex trunculus.jpg | image2_caption = | genus = Hexaplex | parent = Hexaplex (Trunculariopsis) | species = trunculus | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = * Hexaplex (Trunculariopsis) trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)· accepted, alternate representation Murex armigerus Settepassi, 1970 (not available, published in a work which does not consistently use binomial nomenclature (ICZN art. 11.4))

  • Murex coronatus Monterosato in Franceschini, 1906
  • Murex dumosus de Stefani, 1875
  • Murex falcatus Sandri & Danilo, 1856 (invalid: junior homonym of Murex falcatus G.B. Sowerby, 1834)
  • Murex fasciatus Risso, 1826 (invalid: junior homonym of Murex fasciatus Gmelin, 1791)
  • Murex gallica Dollfus, 1926
  • Murex gallicus Dollfus, 1923
  • Murex neomagensis Fontannes, 1879 (dubious synonym)
  • Murex polygonulus Lamarck, 1822
  • Murex portulanus Monterosato in Franceschini, 1906
  • Murex ramulosus Risso, 1826
  • Murex rivalis Monterosato, 1923
  • Murex soldanii de Stefani, 1875
  • Murex soldanii meneghini de Stefani, 1875
  • Murex solidior Monterosato in Franceschini, 1906
  • Murex subasperrimus d'Orbigny, 1852
  • Murex taurinensis Bellardi & Sacco, 1872 (dubious synonym)
  • Murex trunculus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Murex yoldii Mörch in Sowerby, 1879
  • Phyllanotus trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Polyplex purpurescens Perry, 1811
  • Truncularia trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Truncularia trunculus var. aspera Monterosato in Coen, 1933
  • Truncularia trunculus var. bulo Coen, 1933
  • Truncularia trunculus var. purpurifera Coen, 1933
  • Truncularia trunculus var. tetragona Stalio in Coen, 1933 (infrasubspecific name, not recognized by ICZN)
  • Trunculariopsis trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Hexaplex trunculus (previously known as Murex trunculus, Phyllonotus trunculus, or the banded dye-murex) is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex shells or rock snails. It is included in the subgenus Trunculariopsis.

This species is a group of opportunist predatory snails that are known to attack their prey in groups. Unlike other sea snails, they show no preference for the size of their prey, regardless of their hunger levels.

The snail appears in fossil records dating between the Pliocene and Quaternary periods (between 3.6 and 0.012 million years ago). Fossilized shells have been found in Morocco, Italy, and Spain.

This sea snail is historically important because its hypobranchial gland secretes a mucus used to create a distinctive purple-blue indigo dye. Ancient Mediterranean cultures, including the Minoans, Canaanites, Phoenicians and classical Greeks created dyes from the snails. One of the dye's main chemical ingredients is red dibromo-indigotin, the main component of tyrian purple or tekhelet. The dye will turn indigo blue, similar to the color of blue jeans, if exposed to sunlight before the dye sets.

;Subspecies:

  • Hexaplex trunculus trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution

This species lives in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa, specifically Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Azores. This murex occurs in shallow, sublittoral waters. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Distribution-map-of-Hexaplex-trunculus.png" caption="Distribution map of ''Hexaplex trunculus''"] ::

Shell description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Hexaplex_Trunculus.jpg" caption="Compilations of commonly found species of ''Hexaplex trunculus''"] ::

Hexaplex trunculus has a broadly conical shell about 4 to 10 cm long. It has a rather high spire with seven angulated whorls, and the shell is formed similar to the shape of a fish. The shell is variable in sculpture and coloring with dark banding, in four varieties. The ribs sometimes develop thickenings or spines and give the shell a rough appearance. The shell is often covered in algae, which camouflages it, making it appear very similar to the seabed. Mušle.jpg|Apertural view of a shell Mušle (2).jpg|Dorsal view of a shell Hexaplex Trunculus camouflaged in sea fouling.png|Hexaplex trunculus camouflaged in microalgae Muricidae - Hexaplex trunculus conglobatus.JPG|Fossil shell of Hexaplex trunculus conglobatus from Pliocene קונכיות ארגמונים מתקופת הברזל II (מאות 7-10 לפנה"ס).jpg|Murex shells from the Iron Age II period (10th–7th centuries BCE) with ancient remains of purple on the shards seen on the right

Human use

Snail secretions were used as dye in ancient times. People still eat the snail in Spain and Portugal.

As ancient dye

The oldest known purple textiles were discovered in Syria, dating back to the early second millennium BCE. Among these findings are textiles from a burial site at Chagar Bazar, which date back to the 18th to 16th centuries BCE, as well as samples of preserved textiles found in gypsum at the Royal Palace of Qatna. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Tunisian_Purple.jpg" caption="Carthaginian murex pigment from Tunisia"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Purple_Purpur_(retouched).jpg" caption="Purple dyed fabric"] ::

The ancient method for mass-producing blue dye from Hexaplex trunculus has not been successfully reproduced. Today, with stronger reduction agents that are more transparent, it is possible to break the original purplish hue of the molecule and degrade it by exposing it to UV sun rays, resulting in a bluer colour. Therefore, archeologists have confirmed that "Hexaplex trunculus" is the species used to create the purple-blue dye; large numbers of shells were recovered from inside ancient live-storage chambers used for harvesting. Apparently, 10 to 12,000 shells yielded only one gram of dye. Because of this, the dye was highly prized. Also known as "royal purple", it was prohibitively expensive and was only used by the highest-ranking aristocracy.

A similar dye, Tyrian purple, which is purple-red in color, was made from a related species of marine snail, Bolinus brandaris. This dye (alternatively known as imperial purple, see purple) was also prohibitively expensive.

Jews may have used the pigment from the shells to create a dye, tekhelet, to put on the tzitzit that the Torah specifies for the corner of the prayer shawl. This blue dye would have been made by taking the yellow dye solution and letting it sit in the sunlight, and then dipping the wool in it. This dye was lost to history until it was rediscovered by Otto Elsner, a professor at the Shenkar College of Fibers in Haifa. Since then, it has been reintroduced as the authentic tekhelet and has once again been reinstated to the Jewish garment, although only with limited acceptance.

References

  • Ruppert, E.E., R.S. Fox and R.D. Barnes 2004 Invertebrate Zoology. A functional evolutionary approach. 7th Ed. Brooks/Cole, Thomson Learning learning, Inc. 990 p.
  • Templado, J. and R. Villanueva 2010 Checklist of Phylum Mollusca. pp. 148–198 In Coll, M., et al., 2010. The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: estimates, patterns, and threats. PLoS ONE 5(8):36pp
  • Settepassi F. (1970). Atlante malacologico dei molluschi marini viventi nel Mediterraneo Vol. 1. [Malacologial atlas of living marine molluscs in Mediterranean Sea, Vol. 1.].Museo di Zoologia del Communedi.Roma
  • Coen G. (1933). Saggio di una Sylloge Molluscorum Adriaticorum. Memorie del Regio Comitato Talassografico Italiano 192: pp. i-vii, 1-186

References

  1. (2019). "Foraging Behaviors of a Predatory Snail (Hexaplex trunculus) in Group-Attacking". Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
  2. [https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=190365 Fossilworks]
  3. (1986). "Murex shells of the world. An illustrated guide to the Muricidae". Stanford University Press.
  4. (2009). "World Marine Mollusca Database". World Register of Marine Species.
  5. (2008). "The artisanal fishery for muricid gastropods (banded murex and purple dye murex) in the Ria Formosa lagoon (Algarve coast, southern Portugal)". Scientia Marina.
  6. (December 2009). "High prestige Royal Purple dyed textiles from the Bronze Age royal tomb at Qatna, Syria". Antiquity.
  7. (2021-01-28). "Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel)". PLOS ONE.
  8. Karapanagiotis, Ioannis. (January 2019). "A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple". Sustainability.
  9. "Tekhelet 101".

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