Hexaplex regius

Hexaplex regius, common name: the regal murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[1]

Hexaplex regius
Apertural view of Hexaplex regius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Muricoidea
Family:
Muricidae
Subfamily:
Muricinae
Genus:
Hexaplex
Species:
H. regius
Binomial name
Hexaplex regius
(Swainson, 1821)
Synonyms[1]
  • Chicoreus (Phyllonotus) regius (Swainson, 1821)
  • Hexaplex (Muricanthus) regius Swainson, W.A., 1821
  • Murex regius Swainson, 1821
  • Murex tricolor Valenciennes, 1832
  • Phyllonotus regius (Swainson, 1821)
Shell of Hexaplex regius (Swainson, 1821) with operculum, measuring 94.2 mm in height, found at low tide at Fort Kobbe, in Panama.

Description

The size of the adult shell varies between 60 mm and 180 mm. External colors are white with occasional brownish spiral stripes, which on some specimens may be absent. The colors of the aperture, or opening of the shell is pink at the edges and the glossy shield over the columella. At the top and some of the left side of the shield, the pink merges into a dark chocolate-brown staining, ending at the posterior canal. Further inside, the shell fades into a porcelain-white with faint, pink tinting. The siphonal canal is a mixture of pink and light brown.

The sculpture overall is both described as prickly and frond-like; the spines are numerous and scaly. In between spine rows, the shell is lirate.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean between Baja California and Peru (but not along the Galapagos Islands).

References
  1. Hexaplex regius (Swainson, 1821). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 29 February 2012.
  • "Hexaplex (Muricanthus) regius". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 3 January 2015.


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