Giant Eastern (Atlantic) Murex
Hexaplex fulvescens (G. B. Sowerby II, 1834)
The Giant Eastern (Atlantic) Murex shell is rare on S. Hutchinson Island beaches. I've found one large whole one and several samller ones and large fragments.
Giant Eastern Murex found on S. Hutchinson Island (February, 2021)
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Jax: Giant Eastern Murex
Hexaplex fulvescens G. B. Sowerby II, 1834 is the largest muricid found in the Western Atlantic. Possessing a massive spinose shell, this species can attain a length of 213 mm (about 8 1/2 inches). The species ranges from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the in the Gulf of Mexico from off Cedar Key, Florida, to off southern Texas.
While the species is by no means uncommon and can occasionally be found in shallow inshore waters such as near the St. Johns River Jetties in the Jacksonville area, it is much more often found off-shore by SCUBA divers or trawled by commercial scallop fisherman. As with other Muricidae, the snail is an active carnivore which preys on other mollusks. The Giant Eastern Murex was designated as the official club shell of the Jacksonville Shell Club in August of 1975.