Murex Shells of Fiji

 

Fiji Post Limited pleased to issue a set of four postage stamps feature Fiji’s murex shells on August 20, 2002. The issue stamps are depicting murex shells species : Saul’s murex or Chicoreus saulii, Murex tribulus or Caltrop Murex, Purple Pacific Droop or Drupa morvum , and Ramose Murex or chicoreus ramosus.

 

 

The 69c stamp present Saul’s Murex or Chicoreus saulii. Chicoreus saulii is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

The shell size varies between 60 mm and 142 mm.This species is distributed in the Indian Ocean along the Mascarene Basin; in the Pacific Ocean along Japan and Papua New Guinea.

Chicoreus saulii is found almost exclusively on the seaward reef, either under rocks during the day or in ledges and small caves at night. It is nearly always found covered with its red sponge coat, although it can wear off on some older specimens. The shells with the sponge rarely have any kind of calcareous growths on the shell, but shells that lose the protective red covering quickly become encrusted.

The 96c stamp present Murex tribulus or Caltrop Murex. Murex altispira, also known as the Caltrop murex, is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the rock snails or murex snails.

The $1 stamp present Purple Pacific Droop or Drupa morvum . Drupa morum, common name the purple drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. There two sub species, Drupa morum iodostoma  and Drupa morum morum.

It has thick shell and  globose shape , up to 5 cm, with low spire, large body whorl and flat base. Colour white with dark brown nodules. Dark violet, narrow aperture with conspicuous groups of denticles. Columella with three strong, plicate ridges.

 

The $2 stamp present Ramose Murex or chicoreus ramosus. Chicoreus ramosus, common name the ramose murex or branched murex, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails.

This sea snail is found widely spread in the Indo-West Pacific, and occurs from east to South Africa.  It also occurs in eastern Polynesia, southern Japan, New Caledonia and Queensland in Australia.

Chicoreus ramosus has a large, solid, very rugged and heavy shell, of up to 327–330 mm in length. It has a relatively globose outline, possessing a short spire, a slightly inflated body whorl, and a moderately long siphonal canal. One of its most striking ornamentations are the conspicuous, leaf-like, recurved hollow digitations. It also presents three spinose axial varices per whorl, with two elongated nodes between them. The shell is coloured white to light brown externally, with a white aperture, generally pink towards the inner edge, the outer lip and the columella

The Ramose murex inhabits sandy and rubble bottoms near coral reefs, to depths of around 10 m. Chicoreus ramosus is a carnivorous predatory species, usually feeding on bivalves and other gastropods