Laboratory spawning of the purple snail Plicopurpura pansa (Gastropoda: Muricidae).

Observations on the production of purple pigments in the egg capsules, hypobranchial and reproductive glands from seven species of Muricidae (Gastropoda : Mollusca)

Non-indigenous Japanese oyster drill Pteropurpura (Ocinebrellus) inornata (Récluz, 1851) (Gastropoda: Muricidae) on the South-west coast of Portugal

The Japanese oyster drill or rock snail Pteropurpura (Ocinebrellus) inornata (Récluz, 1851), a marine mollusc, belonging to the family Muricidae, is reported from Portugal for the first time. This non-indigenous species, most likely introduced accidentally from French oyster rearing areas into mainland Portugal, has been regularly sampled in shellfish-culture and nearby environments in Sagres, ...

Reproductive cycle of Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae) in the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal)

The purple dye murex Bolinus brandaris is a commercially valuable gastropod in Portugal. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the reproductive cycle in Atlantic populations of this species. In this context, the reproductive cycle of B. brandaris from the Ria Formosa lagoon, southern Portugal, was studied using standard histology and light microscopy and the calculation of bio-physiological ...

Transcriptome of the Australian Mollusc Dicathais orbita Provides Insights into the Biosynthesis of Indoles and Choline Esters

Dicathais orbita is a mollusc of the Muricidae family and is well known for the production of the expensive dye Tyrian purple and its brominated precursors that have anticancer properties, in addition to choline esters with muscle-relaxing properties. However, the biosynthetic pathways that produce these secondary metabolites in D. orbita are not known. Illumina HiSeq 2000 transcriptome sequenc...

Suppressive subtractive hybridisation transcriptomics provides a novel insight into the functional role of the hypobranchial gland in a marine mollusc.

The hypobranchial gland present in gastropods is an organ whose function is not clearly understood. Involved in mucus production, within members of the family Muricidae it is also the source of the ancient dye Tyrian purple and its bioactive precursors. To gain further insights into hypobranchial gland biology, suppressive subtractive hybridisation was performed on hypobranchial gland and mantl...