Prince Murex Shell, Hexaplex princepes

Prince Murex Shell, Hexaplex princeps.  Shell provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, April 2010. Size: 10.4 cm (4.1 inches) x 5.8 cm (2.3 inches).

Prince Murex Shell, Hexaplex princeps. Shell collected off the beach at Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur, February 2022. Size: 10.5 cm (4.1 inches) x 8.0 cm (3.1 inches). Photographs and Identification courtesy of Colin Campbell, DVM, Punta Chivato, Baja California Sur.

The Prince Murex, Hexaplex princeps (Broderip, 1833), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Muricidae Family of Rocks, that is also known at the Chief Rock and in Mexico as bosano pri’ncipe and caracol chino. The shells are large and consist of six whorls with a fairly low spire and five or six very spiny varices, a closed, long, spiny canal and a large aperture which as an outer lip with several hollow spines. The exterior of the shell is white, with numerous, brown to black, spiral lines; the interior is white. The Prince Murex Shells reach a maximum of 14.0 cm (5.5 inches) in length and  10.7 cm (4.2 inches) in height.

Prince Murexes are found on and under coral, rocks, rock ledges in the intertidal zone to depths up to 55 m (135 feet). They are found in the southern Sea of Cortez, from La Paz to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. They range south to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands. They have not been documented on the west coast of Baja.

Synonyms include  Murex princeps and Muricanthus princeps.