Murex trapa

[2] These moderately large shells are fusiforms or club-shaped, with height and acute spire and prominent spiral ridges.

Shell surface is normally light brown or blue-gray with some yellowish-brown on spines.

The aperture is lenticular, with a white interior margin and deep red-brown within.

Three to four short spines are restricted to the basal half of siphonal canal.

[4][5][6] The rare-spined murex is an active predator, mainly feeding on other molluscs and barnacles.

A shell of Murex trapa from Mauritius, on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
Apertural view of a shell of Murex trapa