Murex forskoehlii Röding, 1798
Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, Eastern Mediterranean.
Predator and necrophagous in the infralittoral.
10-15m deep, near Ashkelon, South District, W. Israel. 76mm.
Above and below:
In nets, on sandy bottom, off Kiryat Yam, north of Haifa, NW. Israel. 80-93mm. V. Yerenburg legit (IL).
According to Kovalis & Korkos, who proposed the epithet “mediterranea” for the lessepsian population, it is fished in nets on sandy bottoms between 10m and 40m deep, « hiding during the day and crawling out during night time. » (Gloria Maris 48(6) p.152. « The colour spectrum of the Mediterranean specimens is much more variable than the Red Sea specimens », which show « lighter colours averaging greyish ivory white. » – Kovalis & Korkos: op. cit p.151.
Above and below: 32m deep, Ashkelon. 80,6mm. Original pictures provided by A. Nappo (IT) – (CC BY-NC-SA).
The shell is close to that of carbonnieri Jousseaume, but the spines are more developed, the spire is less narrow, and « the protoconch whorls seem to be consistently larger and less angular. » – R. Houart: “Description of Two New Species of Murex s.s. (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Muricidae) from the Northern Indian Ocean”, Breviora 521, Cambridge 2011, p.13.
The species seems to have successfully colonized the sandy infralittoral of Haifa. Specimens collected along the southern end of Kiryat-Haim shore, north of Kishon Harbour. Original picture provided by R. Frumkin for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC).

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