Babelomurex cariniferus

Babelomurex cariniferus, common name Babel's latiaxis, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Distribution
Babelomurex cariniferus is present from the Mediterranean Sea to the west coast of Africa (Canaries, Cape Verde, Angola).

This species (as junior synonym Latiaxis babelis) is listed in the IUCN Red List, because it is thought to be endemic to Malta.

Habitat
These sea snails live in the coral reef among corals and sponges. They can be found from a few meters to more than 1000.

Description
Shells of Babelomurex cariniferus can reach a size of 20 - 45 mm. The shell surface may be whitish or dark greyish. These shells are variably shaped. They show numerous flattened spires with very thorny axial ribs. The keels of the whorls are adorned with several spiniform scales. A corneous operculum is present.

This species is quite similar to Babelomurex benoiti, but Babelomurex cariniferus is more variable in feature and sculpture and differs in the number of spiniform scales.

Biology
These uncommon infralittoral sea snails are specialist feeders. In fact they feed exclusively on the polyps of the colonies of scleractinian stony corals.