About Stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767)
Stramonita haemastoma (Linnaeus, 1767), commonly called the red-mouthed rock shell, has an adult shell size that ranges from 22 mm to 120 mm. This species is widely distributed across tropical and warm-water areas of the Western Atlantic Ocean. Confirmed regions where it occurs include the Caribbean Sea, North Carolina, Florida, Bermuda, and the full extent of the Brazilian coast, including the islands of Abrolhos and Fernando de Noronha. It is also found in the Eastern Atlantic, in tropical and Southwestern Africa including Cape Verde and Angola, as well as in European waters including the Macaronesian Islands, the Mediterranean Sea, and the southwest coast of Apulia. Once an abundant population in the Eastern Mediterranean, this population collapsed early in the 21st century, and had completely disappeared by 2016. Historically, the shell of this species was one of the two main sources of Tyrian purple, a highly valued dye used for royal clothing in classical times, a fact recorded by both Aristotle and Pliny the Elder.
