Snipe's bill murex

Haustellum haustellum

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth11–85 m
Water temperature23–30 °C
Best monthsJune, September, and November
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Haustellum haustellum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It is the type species of the genus Haustellum Schumacher, 1817.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Haustellum haustellum”, 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: 8 records
February: 10 records
March: 4 records
April: 7 records
May: 9 records
June: 11 records
July: 6 records
August: 6 records
September: 15 records
October: 10 records
November: 14 records
December: 8 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 11–85 m · Deepest record: 100.5 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 4 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C

22–24 °C: 2 records
24–26 °C: 35 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 34 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Snipe's bill murex, Snipe's head murex, Woodcock murex, Snipe's Bill, snipe's bill murex, snipe's head murex, woodcock murex

Names in 3 more languages

German: Schnepfenkopf, Schnepfenschnabel, SchnepfenschnabelStachelschnecke, Schöpfer, Stachelschnecke
French: Rocher tête-de-bécasse
Simplified Chinese: 鷸頭骨螺

Other scientific names: Aranea denudata, Haustellum laeve, Murex (Haustellaria) erythrostoma, Murex haustellum, Murex scolopaceus

Similar species

Common Small Purple
Agnewia tritoniformis
Arakawania granulata
Arakawania marginalba
Arakawania musiva
Bedeva paivae
Bedeva vinosa

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).
164 open-data records from 1956 to 2010.
Species data updated October 30, 2026.

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