Chicoreus laqueatus (Sowerby, 1841)
38.6mm

Chicoreus laqueatus is a rare murex in the Marshall Islands. All specimens at Kwajalein have been observed on the seaward reef, usually at night in honeycomb caves that line surge channel cuts in the reef at depths of about 13 to 20m. At Enewetak Atoll, we also saw three specimens on lagoon pinnacles at night, two of them shown in the first two photos below. Like other Chicoreus, it usually sports what is apparently an orange sponge covering over the shell.

The rest of the photos are from Kwajalein Atoll.

The orange coat is mostly wearing off the shell below.

Created 1 October 2010
Updated 4 July 2022

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