Wide-mouth Purpura Shell, Plicopurpura columellaris

Wide-mouth Purpura Shell, Plicopurpura columellaris. Shell collected off the beach in the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Suf, May 2018. Size: 5.9 cm (2.3 inches) x 4.1 cm (1.6 inches).

The Wide-mouth Purpura, Plicopurpura columellaris (Lamarck, 1822), is a gastropod mollusk that is a member of the Muricidae Family of Rocks. They areare known in Mexico as pu’rpura patuda. The shells are large and solid and consist of three or four whorls that have exterior sculpting of spiral lines and nodules that are more pronounced in smaller shells, a prominent spire that varies in height and sharpness and a large aperture with a wide lip. The exterior of the shell is grayish green to dark gray; the interior is smooth and white; the inner lip of the aperture is brown and brown to salmon in color and they have a brown band along the inside of the outer lip. The Wide-mouthed Purpura reach a maximum of 10.0 cm (3.9 inches) in length and 6.9 cm (2.7 inches) in height.

Wide-mouth Purpuras are found attached to exposed rocks in the higher intertidal zone at depths up to 5 m (15 feet). They range from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur to Columbia and the Galapagos Islands. They are found in the coast regions of the southern Sea of Cortez.

Synonyms include Buccinum rudolphi, Haustrum dentex, Plicopurpura pansa, Purpura pansa, Purpura patula, and Purpura columellaris.