Mulberry drupe

Drupa morum

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–15 m
Water temperature13–30 °C
Best monthsJanuary, June, and July
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Richard Parker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Drupa morum, commonly named purple drupe or makaloa in Hawaiian, is a species of sea snails, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Drupa morum”, 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: 38 records
February: 25 records
March: 38 records
April: 19 records
May: 38 records
June: 44 records
July: 43 records
August: 33 records
September: 36 records
October: 29 records
November: 29 records
December: 20 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–15 m · Deepest record: 45 m

0–10 m: 46 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–30 °C

12–14 °C: 2 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 4 records
24–26 °C: 110 records
26–28 °C: 131 records
28–30 °C: 146 records

Photos

(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) JH, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) River Ahlquist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Irvine, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Takaaki Hattori, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Mulberry drupe, Purple drupe, Purple Pacific drupe, Rough castor bean, mulberry drupe, purple drupe, purple Pacific drupe, rough castor bean

Names in 2 more languages

German: Schwarze Igelschnecke, Schwarzer Igel, Violettmündige Pazifische Purpurschnecke
Simplified Chinese: 紫口岩螺

Other scientific names: Drupa (Drupa) morum, Drupa horrida, Drupa violacea, Ricinella violacea, Ricinula globosa, Ricinula horrida

Similar species

Arakawania granulata
Arakawania musiva
Adusta murex
Chicoreus brunneus
Branched murex
Chicoreus ramosus
Purple coral snail
Coralliophila violacea
Horn drupe
Drupella cornus

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).
598 open-data records from 1922 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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