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| shelled snails text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Family Muricidae |
| Rare-spined
murex snail Murex trapa Family Muricidae updated Oct 10 Where seen? It is rare to come across the living snail but the shells of these snails are often encountered on our Northern shores. The empty shell is usually occupied by a hermit crab! Features: 6-7cm long, it has slender, curving spines and a long siphonal canal. This long structure helps the animal protect its siphon while it pokes into places to look for food. While the spines may help protect it from predators, it does make it difficult for the animal to move about among seagrasses and seaweeds. So the animal usually moves by holding the shell high above the bottom as it moves across the surface. What does it eat? Like other drills (Family Muricidae) it can drill through the shells of clams and snails. Human uses: It is sometimes collected as food by coastal dwellers (e.g., in Malaysia) and for its shell for the shell trade. Status and threats: Murex trapa is listed as 'Vulnerable' on the Red List of threatened animals of Singapore. It is now seldom seen. Like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. Trampling by careless visitors and over-collection can also have an impact on local populations. |
 Changi, Aug 08  |
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 Long siphonal canal protects the siphon. |
 Operculum to seal the shell opening. |
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 Long muscular foot. |
 Long tentacles with eye spot. |
 Changi, Aug 08 |
 This one had caught a bivalve. |
 Blue portion sign of drilling? |
more photos of rare-spined murex snails on Singapore shores
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Links
References
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The Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. 343 pp.|
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