These animals feed upon other mollusks by drilling with the radula and secreting acid to burn through the shell, leaving a small round hole as evidence.  A few feed upon living corals using acid alone.  The animals create a green fluid that dries purple.  Ancient Romans used to crush hundreds of murex to create this royal dye.

Most have spiny shells and attractive colors and are popular with collectors.  They are found in habitats where their favorite prey occurs, including the intertidal zone, estuaries, mudflats, sand, boulders, and reefs to deep water.  Murex in Hawaii are rare at scuba depths but diverse and plentiful elsewhere.  Shells are usually heavily encrusted with organisms and better ones may be cleaned by soaking  them in bleach, followed by lots of scraping and scrubbing with a stainless-steel brush.

Sea Tiger, Oahu, 85 feet

Endemic to Hawaii.  Rare on ledges in deep water.  Color varies from cream to dark brown.  Feeds upon bivalves.  Attains 4 inches.

Kewalo Hump, Oahu, 90 feet

Kewalo Hump, Oahu, 90 feet

Fairly common under rocks at any depth.  Attains nearly 1 inch.  Hawaii & the Indo-Pacific.

Endemic Hawaiian subspecies.  Uncommon on coralline reefs at scuba depths and difficult to spot.  White shell may be tinted with purple, red, or yellow.  Feeds upon boring mussels in reef rock.  Attains 4 inches in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Uncommon under stones in shallow water.  Less than 3/8 inch.  Endemic to Hawaii.

Uncommon under stones in deep water, rarely in tidepools.  Attains 2 inches.  Hawaii & the Indo-Pacific.

Ogden Point, Victoria, Canada, 4 feet

Ogden Point, Victoria, Canada, 4 feet

Common on rocky reefs in shallow water.  Attains 1.5 inches.  Alaska to Baja California.  Formerly known as Thais emarginata.

Juvenile, Ogden Point, Victoria, Canada, 4 feet

Common on rocky reefs.  Attains 4 inches.  Alaska to Central California.  Formerly known as Thais lamellosa.

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