Muricoidea
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = Muricoidea
| regnum = Animalia
| phylum = Mollusca
| classis = Gastropoda
| subclassis = Orthogastropoda
| superordo = Caenogastropoda
| ordo = Sorbeoconcha
| subordo = Hypsogastropoda
| infraordo = Neogastropoda
| superfamilia = Muricoidea
| superfamilia_authority = da Costa, 1776
| subdivision_ranks = Families
| subdivision =
Family Muricidae
Family Coralliophilidae
}}
The Muricoidea is a superfamily of marine gastropods. The shell is spindle-shaped with a low to medium spire, strong ornament of ribs, nodules, or frills, an oval aperture, and a fairly long siphonal canal. The mantle has a gland that produces a purplish pigment. The Muricoids first appear during the Cretaceous period. Two families are recognised in the current classification.