Ramose Murex

Chicoreus ramosus, commonly referred to as the ramose murex or branched murex, is a predatory marine gastropod belonging to the family Muricidae. This species holds significant economic value in the Indo-West Pacific region, particularly in 🇮🇳 India.

Geographically, Chicoreus ramosus is widely distributed across the Indo-West Pacific. Its range extends from the eastern coast of 🇿🇦 South Africa, including 🇲🇿 Mozambique, Tanzania, 🇲🇬 Madagascar, and the 🌊 Red Sea, through the 🌊 Gulf of Oman, Aldabra (🇸🇨 Seychelles), Chagos (🇮🇴 British Indian Ocean Territory), and 🇲🇺 Mauritius, to eastern Polynesia, southern 🇯🇵 Japan, 🇳🇨 New Caledonia (🇫🇷 Overseas France), and Queensland in 🇦🇺 Australia.

Morphologically, Chicoreus ramosus is characterized by a large, robust, and heavily textured shell, reaching lengths of up to 330 mm. The shell exhibits a relatively globose shape with a short spire and a slightly inflated body whorl, complemented by a moderately elongated siphonal canal. A distinctive feature of this species is its conspicuous, leaf-like, recurved hollow digitations. Each whorl displays three prominent, spine-like axial varices, interspersed with two elongated nodes. The external coloration ranges from white to light brown, while the aperture is predominantly white with a pink hue along its inner edge, the outer lip, and the columella.

Habitat-wise, the ramose murex is typically found in sandy and rubble substrates near coral reefs, at depths of approximately 10 meters.

As with other species within the Muricidae family, Chicoreus ramosus is carnivorous, primarily preying on bivalves and other gastropods.