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Muricanthus radix

(Gmelin, 1791)
Churo

Family: Muricidae
Order: Neogastropoda
Class: Gastropoda
Phylum / Division: Mollusca
Kingdom: Animalia

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Synonyms: Hexaplex radix.





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Records from Ecuador


Description


Muricanthus radix, the radix murex or root murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Distribution: This species can be found in the western Pacific in parts of Central America (Baja California, from Mexico to Peru).

Habitat: These sea snails live along the tropical coasts in shallow waters among intertidal rocks.

 Shells of Muricanthus radix can reach a size of . These large, massive, heavy shells are globose or pear-shaped and very spiny, with a white surface and blackish-brown foliations and spiral elements. The body whorls have six to eleven varices. The aperture is large, broad, ovate and porcelaneous white. The outer edges are strongly dentate. The siphonal canal is moderately long. The operculum is dark brown.

This species is quite similar to Hexaplex nigritus. The shells of these two species mainly differ in the length, width and in the proportion of blackish-brown versus white. Moreover, shells of H. radix are less oblong and show less spines in black.

Biology: Hexaplex radix feeds primarily on clams.

Source: Wikipedia, article Muricanthus radix. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
35510829/08/2015EcuadorEl OroRefugio de Vida Silvestre Isla Santa ClaraJulián Alfredo Pérez Correa
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Muricanthus radix – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 05/10/2026.