Indian Ocean and adjacent waters. Absent in the Red Sea. Introduced in the Mediterranean Sea via carrier vessels, eastward to Israel and S. Turkey, westward to Malta and Italy. Present in Brasil (2022). Predator in shallow rocky infralittoral bottoms. Original taxon: Murex lacerus. Synonyms: angulifera, carinata, carinifera…
Beachstormed on sand, Kiryat Yam, Haifa, nw. Israel. 57-61mm. V. Yerenburg legit (IL).
« The shell is somewhat spiral-shaped, thick-walled, little or hardly shiny, densely covered with fine recessed stripes; these stripes are basically studded with very fine but deeply pierced points and become stronger, almost furrow-like, near the base of the last whorl. The surface is rusty-red, either monochrome or irregularly blotched with reddish spots and flames. The spire is a bit low, pointed; the whorls are sloped upwards, with a sharp, strongly projecting, tooth-shaped sharp ridge, which weakens beyond the last whorl, between which and the upper edge, a second indistinct edge develops; both are studded with strong tooth-like bumps. »
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Original picture provided by G. Patil for iNaturalist.
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