| Bolinus brandaris Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Two shells of the spiny dye-murex | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Family: | Muricidae |
| Genus: | Bolinus |
| Species: | B. brandaris
|
| Binomial name | |
| 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.[1]
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.[2] It was used by the Phoenicians in ancient times to extract imperial Tyrian purple dye.[3]
- ^ Bolinus brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758). Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2009). Bolinus brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140389 on 31 August 2010 .
- ^ "Fossilworks". Fossilworks. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
- ^ McGovern, P. E. and Michel, R. H.; Royal Purple dye: tracing the chemical origins of the industry, Anal. Chem. 1985, 57, 1514A-1522A