Firebrand murex

Chicoreus torrefactus

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth4–42 m
Water temperature15–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, November, and December
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Shaunak Modi, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Chicoreus torrefactus, common name the firebrand murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Chicoreus torrefactus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 5 records
February: 4 records
March: 13 records
April: 9 records
May: 2 records
June: 9 records
July: 9 records
August: 10 records
September: 13 records
October: 10 records
November: 19 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–42 m · Deepest record: 53 m

0–10 m: 11 records
10–20 m: 6 records
20–30 m: 8 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 30 records
26–28 °C: 71 records
28–30 °C: 17 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Firebrand murex, Scorched murex, firebrand murex, scorched murex

Names in 2 more languages

German: Sengfarbenschnecke
Japanese: センジュモドキ

Other scientific names: Chicoreus (Chicoreus) kilburni, Chicoreus (Triplex) torrefactus, Chicoreus rubiginosus, Murex (Chicoreus) tubulatus, Murex affinis, Murex benedictinus, Murex rochebruni, Murex rubiginosus, Murex torrefactus, Murex tubulatus

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
283 open-data records from 1910 to 2014.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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