Bolinus cornutus

Bolinus cornutus, also called the horned murex, is a predatory marine snail belonging to the murex family, Muricidae. It is common along the west coast of Africa, where it lives in moderately shallow waters on gravelly or rocky seabeds. The snail is carnivorous and hunts other animals for food.

Its shell is large, thick, and club-shaped, reaching a maximum length of about 200 millimetres. The shell is usually pale brown or tan, with three evenly spaced darker brown spiral bands across the body whorl. The spire is low, and the body whorl has six or seven varices, each forming two long, hollow spines.

The siphonal canal is long, straight, and narrowly open along its length, with short spines spiraling off it. Most of the shell’s outer surface is rough. The aperture is mostly white, with an apricot tint on the lip edge, the inductura, and the parietal callus.

Though not as widely used as other murex species like Bolinus brandaris, Bolinus cornutus is one of the snails from which Tyrian purple dye can be obtained. This dye comes from a mucus secreted by the snail’s hypobranchial gland, which the animal uses for defense and to help capture prey.

The species is found along the Atlantic coast of Africa and is not uncommon.