The aperture is variable in shape; it may be ovate to more or less contracted, with a well-marked anterior siphonal canal that may be very long.

The operculum is corneous and of variable thickness, with the nucleus near the anterior end or at about midlength of the outer margin.

The access to the soft parts of the prey is typically obtained by boring a hole through the shell by means of a softening secretion and the scraping action of the radula.

Muricids lay eggs in protective, corneous capsules, the size and shape of which vary by species.

The family Muricidae first appears in the fossil record during the Aptian age of the Cretaceous period.