Murex species

Tyrian purple was derived from the "purple snail," the common name for what, in reality, are several species of mollusks of the genus Murex. Each one of the mollusk species yielded a slightly different variety of purple. In Tyre, where the most prized purple dye was produced, Murex brandaris snails were those most abundant and generally used, while in Sidon, not far to the north of Tyre, an amethyst purple variety of the dye was obtained from... 

Freshwater invertebrates, 3 species Aseiius, Lymnaea, Sialis) Gastropod Murex brandaris M. brandaris M. brandaris... 

When the lipid composition of the ganglion in four species of gastropod (Helix pomatia, Lymnaea stagnate, Murex trunculus, and M. brandaris the last two species inhabit the sea) was investigated by biochemical and histochemical methods, the glycosphingolipids were found to be present mainly in the form of sulfatides, whereas gangliosides are absent.60... 

Figure 5. Left, a shell of banded dye-murex and right, a fragment of same species with spire broken off to permit excision of chromogenic gland (from a Persian stratum of I. RolTs excavation at Appolonia).

Certain molluscs Purpura lapillus, P. hcemastoma, and various species of Murex), when crushed and exposed to sunlight, develop a purple dyestuff which was highly prized by the ancients. According to Schunck [84] the dyestuff, punicine, is insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, slightly soluble in benzene and glacial acetic acid, and easily soluble in aniline and concentrated sulphuric acid [85]. It sublimes with partial decomposition in leaflets, which have a metallic lustre. 

The invention of dyeing lias been attributed to the Phoenicians, probably because it is chronicled that Solomon sent to Hiram of Tyre for a man cunning to work inter alia in purple and crimson and blue. The Tyrian purple was derived from the throats of a species of murex, a molluscous animal, a single drop from each. Other dyes from animal substances include sepia derived from the black secretion of the cuttlefish, and cochineal which consists of dried female cochineal insects, discovered by the Spaniards in 1518. 

Three Mediterranean species of marine snail which dwell in the same seawater adjacent to a nickel smelting plant accumulate markedly different levels of metals (Nott and Nicolaidou 1989). The highest levels occurred in the sediment feeder Cerithium vul-gatum and the lowest levels in the predator Murex trunculus, which preys on C. vulga-tum. It has been established that metals in... 

The dye industry. This tale refers to one of the most important dyes of the ancient world Tyrian purple. Species of mollusk known as Murex brandaris and Murex trunculus produce a purple color, which supposedly stained Hercules s dog. 

The most important source of blue colourants in Europe was woad (Isatis tinctoria), from which indigo could be produced (cf. Section 2.1). Chemically related are the purple dyes obtained in ancient times from sea-snails of the genus Murex (cf. Section 2.2). Depending on the particular species of snail, violet to reddish-purple textile dyes can be obtained. Tyrian purple and indigo are both vat dyes. 

Halogen-containing compounds are not only produced by man, but also by Nature [1740-1742], A brominated indole derivative - Tyrian purple dye - was isolated from the mollusc Murex brandaris by the Phoenicians. Since that time, more than 1,000 halogenated natural products of various structural types have been isolated from sources such as bacteria, fungi, algae, higher plants, marine molluscs, insects, and mammals [1743], Whereas fluorinated and iodinated species are rather rare, chloro and bromo derivatives are found more often. The former are predominantly... 

The term indirubin was created in 1855 to describe the violet-red dyes associated with indigo in the various plants that contain this dye (Schunck, 1855), and indirubin, a positional isomer of indigo, was described for the first time by von Bayer shortly after his historic synthesis of indigo (Von Bayer, 1881). Since then, indirubin and several related derivatives have been isolated from terrestrial plants and marine neogastropods, mainly of the genera Murex and Thais. Table 23.3 shows some natural indirubins and their contents in different species of Neogastropoda (Cooksey, 2006). 

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