Chicoreus ramosus

Chicoreus ramosus, common name the ramose murex or branched murex, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails. It is considered an economically important species in the Indo-West Pacific, especially in India.[2]

Chicoreus ramosus
Different views of a shell of Chicoreus ramosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Muricoidea
Family:
Muricidae
Subfamily:
Muricinae
Genus:
Chicoreus
Species:
C. ramosus
Binomial name
Chicoreus ramosus
Synonyms[1]
  • Chicoreus (Chicoreus) ramosus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Murex fortispinna François, 1891
  • Murex frondosus sensu Martini Mørch, 1852
  • Murex inflatus Lamarck, 1822
  • Murex ramosus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Purpura fusiformis Röding, 1798
  • Purpura incarnata Röding, 1758

Distribution

This sea snail is found widely spread in the Indo-West Pacific, and occurs from east to South Africa, including Mozambique, Tanzania, Madagascar, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman, Aldabra, Chagos and Mauritius. It also occurs in eastern Polynesia, southern Japan, New Caledonia and Queensland in Australia.[1][2]

Shell description

C. ramosus has a large, solid, very rugged and heavy shell, of up to 330 mm in length. It has a relatively globose outline, possessing a short spire, a slightly inflated body whorl, and a moderately long siphonal canal. One of its most striking ornamentations are the conspicuous, leaf-like, recurved hollow digitations. It also presents three spinose axial varices per whorl, with two elongated nodes between them. The shell is coloured white to light brown externally, with a white aperture, generally pink towards the inner edge, the outer lip and the columella.[1][2]

Ecology

Habitat

The Ramose murex inhabits sandy and rubble bottoms near coral reefs, to depths of around 10 m.[2]

Feeding habits
Live Chicoreus ramosus.

As is the case in other Muricidae, C. ramosus is a carnivorous predatory species, usually feeding on bivalves and other gastropods.[2]

References
  1. Chicoreus ramosus (Linnaeus, 1758). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 6 April 2010.
  2. Poutiers, J. M. (1998). "Gastropods". In Carpenter, K. E.; Niem, V. H. (eds.). The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1. Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods (PDF). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. 1. Rome: FAO. p. 562. ISBN 92-5-104052-4.
  • Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) Sea Shells of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp.
  • Steyn, D.G & Lussi, M. (2005). Offshore Shells of Southern Africa: A pictorial guide to more than 750 Gastropods. Published by the authors. pp. i–vi, 1–289
  • Houart R., Kilburn R.N. & Marais A.P. (2010) Muricidae. pp. 176–270, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.

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