+- Forums SEASHELL-COLLECTOR (http://forum.seashell-collector.com)
+-- Forum: Seashell Collector's Forum (http://forum.seashell-collector.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: Share your Collection (http://forum.seashell-collector.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=21)
+--- Thread: Siratus alabaster 165 (Muricoidea: Muricidae: Muricinae) (/showthread.php?tid=14972)
Siratus alabaster 165 (Muricoidea: Muricidae: Muricinae) - JackSullivan - 08-18-2018
Beautiful pure white shell from the PI.
Besides there use for dyestuff manufacture in the Mediterranean, the Muricidae are found nearly worldwide: Australia, New Zealand, Mexico. They have a unique metabolic pathway that starts with the amino acid tryptophan & results in a colorless molecule that contains bromine, one of the halogens it extracts from sea water. Bromine tends to make chemicals containing it toxic & it is thought that this brominated indole compound is used for antimicrobial protection of the snail's egg masses.