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Murex Bonneti
''Murex'' is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2010). Murex Linnaeus, 1758. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138196 on 2011-04-09 The common name murex is still used for many species in the family Muricidae which were originally given the Latin generic name ''Murex,'' but have more recently been regrouped into newer genera. ''Murex'' was used in antiquity to describe spiny sea snails, especially those associated with the production of purple dye''. Murex'' is one of the oldest classical seashell names still used by the scientific community. Aristotle described these mollusks in his ''History of Animals'' using the Greek term πορφύρα (''porphyra''). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin , 'chalk', which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation . The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high Sea level#Local and eustatic, eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow Inland sea (geology), inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was largely ice-free, although there is some evidence of brief periods of glaciation during the cooler first half, and forests extended to the poles. Many of the dominant taxonomic gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muricidae - Murex Spinicosta-000
Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With over 1,700 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neogastropoda. Additionally, 1,200 fossil species have been recognized.Houart, Roland. (2018). "Historique et classification des espèces actuelles de Muricidae (Neogastropoda, Muricoidea)." ''Novapex'' 19:37–66 Numerous subfamilies are recognized, although experts disagree about the subfamily divisions and the definitions of the genera. Many muricids have unusual shells which are considered attractive by shell collectors and by interior designers. Shell description Muricid shells are variably shaped, generally with a raised spire and strong sculpture with spiral ridges and often axial varices (typically three or more varices on each whorl), also frequently bearing spines, tubercles, or blade-like processes. Periostracum is absent in this fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organobromine Compound
Organobromine chemistry is the study of the synthesis and properties of organobromine compounds, also called organobromides, which are organic compounds that contain carbon bonded to bromine. The most pervasive is the naturally produced bromomethane. One prominent application of synthetic organobromine compounds is the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers as fire-retardants, and in fact fire-retardant manufacture is currently the major industrial use of the element bromine. A variety of minor organobromine compounds are found in nature, but none are biosynthesized or required by mammals. Organobromine compounds have fallen under increased scrutiny for their environmental impact. General properties Most organobromine compounds, like most organohalide compounds, are relatively nonpolar. Bromine is more electronegative than carbon (2.9 vs 2.5). Consequently, the carbon in a carbon–bromine bond is electrophilic, i.e. alkyl bromides are alkylating agents. Carbon–haloge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexaplex Trunculus
''Hexaplex trunculus'' (previously known as ''Murex trunculus'', ''Phyllonotus trunculus'', or the banded dye-murex) is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex shells or rock snails. It is included in the subgenus ''Trunculariopsis''. This species is a group of opportunist predatory snails that are known to attack their prey in groups. What is peculiar about this specific species is that they show no preference for the size of their prey, regardless of their hunger levels. The snail appears in fossil records dating between the Pliocene and Quaternary periods (between 3.6 and 0.012 million years ago). Fossilized shells have been found in Morocco, Italy, and Spain. This sea snail is historically important because its hypobranchial gland secretes a mucus used to create a distinctive purple-blue indigo dye. Ancient Mediterranean cultures, including the Minoans, Canaanites/Phoenicians and classical Greeks created dyes from the sna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolinus Brandaris
''Bolinus brandaris'' (originally called ''Murex brandaris'' by Linnaeus and also Haustellum brandaris), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or the rock snails. This species is known in the fossil record from the Pliocene (age range: from 3.6 to 2.588 million years ago). Fossil shells of this species have been found in Cyprus, Spain and Italy. It was used by the Phoenicians in ancient times to extract imperial Tyrian purple dye. Distribution and habitat This snail lives in the central and western parts of the Mediterranean Sea and has been found on isolated coral atoll beaches in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. It was known since ancient times as a source for purple dye and also as a popular food source under various names, among which ''sconciglio'', from which comes the word '' scungilli''. This species lives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypobranchial Gland
The hypobranchial gland is a glandular structure which is part of the anatomy of many mollusks, including several different families of gastropods, and also many protobranch bivalves. This gland produces mucus as well as biologically active compounds. The cephalopod ink sac is a modified hypobranchial gland. Anatomy and function ;Gastropods The hypobranchial gland is found in many sea snails, including those in the families Haliotidae, Buccinidae, Mitridae and Costellariidae. It usually presents itself as a thickening of the tissue located in the roof of the animal's mantle cavity. This is in association with parts of the aquatic mollusk anatomy that perform sediment consolidation in these organisms. However, this gland is absent in all terrestrial gastropods except the Neritacea. Its morphology, however, is variable between different groups of snails. Glands with similar functions are present in the Nuculidae, Solenomyidae, Monia, Patellacea, and Loritcata. In the Haliotid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenicians
Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civilization which expanded and contracted throughout history, with the core of their culture stretching from Arwad in modern Syria to Mount Carmel. The Phoenicians extended their cultural influence through trade and colonization throughout the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Iberian Peninsula, evidenced by thousands of Phoenician inscriptions. The Phoenicians directly succeeded the Bronze Age Canaanites, continuing their cultural traditions after the decline of most major Mediterranean basin cultures in the Late Bronze Age collapse and into the Iron Age without interruption. They called themselves Canaanites and referred to their land as Canaan, but the territory they occupied was notably smaller than that of Bronze Age Canaan. The name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tekhelet
''Tekhelet'' ( ''təḵēleṯ''; also transliterated ''tekheleth'', ''t'chelet'', ''techelet'', and ''techeiles'') is a highly valued blue dye that held great significance in history of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean civilizations. In the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition, tekhelet is used to color the ''tzitzit'' (fringe (trim), fringes) attached to the corners of four-cornered garments, including the tallit, and historically in the clothing of the High Priest of Israel and tapestries in the Tabernacle. The Bible does not specify the source or production method of tekhelet, but rabbinic literature records that it could only be derived from a marine animal known as the ''ḥillāzon'' (Hebrew: ). However, the knowledge of tekhelet production was lost during the Middle Ages, leading to the omission of tekhelet from tzitzit. In recent times, many Jews believe that experts have identified the ''ḥillāzon'' as the snail ''Hexaplex trunculus'' (historically cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrian Purple
Tyrian purple ( ''porphúra''; ), also known as royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon, once Phoenicia. It is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails in the family Muricidae, rock snails originally known by the name Murex ('' Bolinus brandaris'', '' Hexaplex trunculus'' and '' Stramonita haemastoma''). In ancient times, extracting this dye involved tens of thousands of snails and substantial labour, and as a result, the dye was highly valued. The coloured compound is 6,6'-dibromoindigo. History Biological pigments were often difficult to acquire, and the details of their production were kept secret by the manufacturers. Tyrian purple is a pigment made from the mucus of several species of murex snail. Production of Tyrian purple for use as a fabric dye began as early as 1200 BC by the Phoenicians, and was continued by the Greeks and Byzantine Empire, Romans until 1453 AD, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sculpture (mollusc)
Sculpture is a feature of many of the shells of mollusks. It is three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface of the shell, as distinct from either the basic shape of the shell itself or the pattern of colouration, if any. Sculpture is a feature found in the shells of gastropods, bivalves, and scaphopods. The word "sculpture" is also applied to surface features of the aptychus of ammonites, and to the outer surface of some calcareous opercula of marine gastropods such as some species in the family Trochidae. Sculpture can be concave or convex, incised into the surface or raised from it. Sometimes the sculpture has microscopic detailing. The term "sculpture" refers only to the calcareous outer layer of shell, and does not include the proteinaceous periostracum, which is in some cases textured even when the underlying shell surface is smooth. In many taxa, there is no sculpture on the shell surface at all, apart from the presence of fine growth lines. The sculp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intertidal
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various species of life, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and many species of coral with regional differences in biodiversity. Sometimes it is referred to as the ''littoral zone'' or '' seashore'', although those can be defined as a wider region. The intertidal zone also includes steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, bogs or wetlands (e.g., vast mudflats). This area can be a narrow strip, such as in Pacific islands that have only a narrow tidal range, or can include many meters of shoreline where shallow beach slopes interact with high tidal excursion. The peritidal zone is similar but somewhat wider, extending from above the highest tide level to below the lowest. Organisms in the intertidal zone are well-adapted to their environment, facing high level ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haustellum
''Haustellum'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Like many other genera within the Muricidae, the genus has been redefined several times. Ponder & Vokes (1988) and Vokes (1990) included American and Indo-Pacific species in ''Haustellum'', which differs from ''Murex'' sensu stricto by lacking a labral spine. Petuch (1994) introduced '' Vokesimurex'' for the American long-canalled ''Haustellum'' sensu Vokes (1990), such as '' Murex messorius'' Sowerby, 1841. Houart (1999) transferred 14 Indo-Pacific species and three subspecies of ''Haustellum'' in the genus '' Vokesimurex''. As currently defined, ''Haustellum'' is represented by eight to nine species. Members of ''Haustellum'' generally differ from those of '' Vokesimurex'' in having a globose and low-spired shape, a more rounded aperture, a smooth columella, a less deep anal notch, and no cord spine. Species Species within the genus ''Hau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
