This family has not yet revealed all its secrets; the subfamily Muricinae, for example, is certainly polyphyletic. Shells small to large, of various shapes and sculptures, with or without additional elements such as spines, wings, nodules or scales. No periostracum.
 

Shell medium-sized to large, globose, with a pointing apex, a low spire and a large body whorl; suture marked; sculpture made of 7 radial costae or varices, crossed by numerous sharp spiral ribs of various strength; at the intersections of the strongest spirals with the radials, spines often occur; aperture ovate with a moderately thick labrum, smooth inside; as in the Cymatiidae the posterior siphonal canal is reduced to a simple notch between the adapical end of the labrum and the – unique – columellar fold; anterior siphonal canal considerably developed, almost closed, and bearing a last spiral of spines; columellar callus expanding consierably acrosss the umbilical area, and often projecting outwards like in the genus Haustellum Schumacher.
 

Shell small, biconical, with a « rather chalky surface texture »; whorls convex; last whorl longer than the half of the shell; aperture ovate, with a moderately winged labrum; anterior siphonal canal short but not small; sculpture of radial varices or ridges « diagonally ascending the spire » (the quotations are of M. Keen), crossed by numerous spiral cords.
 

Shell small, biconical, with an acute spire, equal in height to the last whorl; whorls convex to angular : suture marked, subsutural shelf sloping, suprasutural wall vertical, shoulder angular; sculpture made up of numerous radial costae crossed by spiral cords; their intersections can give rise to some bumps ranging from little scales to big nodules; aperture fusiform, round adapically, angular abapically; lip thick, often indented internally; anterior siphonal canal small, rather open; posterior siphonal canal as a conspicuous notch on the lip near the suture.
 

Shell medium-sized, fusiform; spire acute; whorls convex, anterior siphonal canal long and closed. Synonym Hadriania Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus who write: « We believe it useful to create this genus for a group of shells classified by the authors sometimes in the genus Murex, sometimes in the genus Fusus, and whose type would be the Murex craticulatus Brocchi. This species offers, in fact, certain characteristics which link it to the Murex, such as the closed canal, the varicose and frizzy longitudinal ribs, and others which bring it close to the Fusus, such as its general shape and its sharp labrum. » – Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus: Les mollusques marins du Roussillon vol.I fasc.1, Paris 1882, p.33.
 

Shell medium-sized to large, massive, often thick-walled; spire short, last whorl very developed; sculpture made of six radial folds or varices crosssed by spiral cords of various strength; the intersections of the spirals and radials, especially at the shoulders, give rise to some protuberances, more or less spiny; aperture large, ovate, with a posterior siphonal notch in subsutural position, and a large and complex anterior canal, narrowly open.
 

Shell medium-sized to large, with a conical spire and a rounded body whorl; aperture crenated, with a posterior siphonal notch and a long, almost closed, anterior siphonal canal; sculpture made of three radial folds crossed by spiral cords and striae of various strengths; the intersections between the folds and the stronger cords give rise to sharp spines, often long, sometimes curved; the anterior siphonal canal bears equally these three alignments of spines; operculum round posteriorly, pointed anteriorly; nucleus anterior, subterminal.
 

Shell small, biconical; spire and last whorl of nearly equal height; whorls rather convex, often with an angular shoulder; sculpture very variable within a species, made of numerous axial folds crossed by a large number of spiral cords, often squamous; the intersections between radials and spirals can bear buttons, nodules, scales, tubercles, spines, spatulae; aperture generally smooth; posterior siphonal notch absent, anterior siphonal canal short, open.
 

Shell small, biconical, slender; whorls sculptured with strong axial folds crosssed by numerous spiral cords; intersections between axials and spirals bearing nodules or spikes; presence of thin commarginal growth marks; aperture ovate, devoid of posterior notch; inner labial margin serrated; anterior siphonal canal short; columellar callus narrow. The whorls are less shouldered than in Murexsul.
 

Shell generally small, biconical, adorned with radial varices crossed by numerous spiral cords on a scabrous surface; usually 3 varices are stronger than the others and can become winged in extreme variants; the intersections between axial varices and spirals can bear nodules, tubercles, scales, or nothing; aperture ovate, devoid of posterior notch; inner labial margin serrated; anterior siphonal canal short, sometimes recurved; columellar callus very narrow. The whorls are often rather convex, and the suture is marked. Animal white.
 

Shell small, biconical, with rounded whorls and a marked suture; similar to Ocenebra but without the 3 labial varices of the latter. Animal red.
 

Shell small, biconical, elongate,with a high spire. « Axial sculpture of last teleoconch whorl consisting of 7-9 narrow, low, sharp or weakly rounded ribs. Spiral sculpture of low, narrow, primary, secondary and tertiary cords. Aperture ovate, columellar lip weakly concave, smooth or with weak folds abapically, rim almost entirely adherent to shell. Anal notch broad, deep. Outer lip with strong, elongate denticles within. Siphonal canal short, broadly open ventrally. » – Houart & Puillandre: “Description of new genera and new species of Ergalataxinae (Gastropoda: Muricidae)”, Novapex vol.20, Brussels 2019, p.24.
 

« The genus Pagodula is a compact group of small to medium-sized marine gastropods […] that are distinctive among Muricidae in having a white, rather thin shell, simply sculptured with axial ribs with weak to strongs pines at the shoulder angulation, one or several weak or moderately strong spiral cords on the sides, a toothless aperture and a simple radula. » – Marshall & Houart: “The genus Pagodula (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Muricidae) in Australia, the New Zealand region and the Tasman Sea”, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics vol.54(1), september 2013, p.89; « …spiral cords in most species low, prominent or absent in few species, never crossing axial lamellae. Sutural ramp smooth apart from axial lamellae. Siphonal canal long in most species, spineless, broadly open. Aperture roundly ovate; columellar lip smooth, fully adherent; outer lip smooth, posterior notch very broad and shallowly concave. » – op. cit. p.90.
 

Shell small, biconical, with the spire and the last whorl of about the same height; whorls rounded, suture marked; sculpture made of numerous varicose longitudinal plicae and protruding spiral cords, which, by their crisscrossing, give the shell a corrugated appearance. Aperture ovate finishing at the base in a moderately long canal, slightly oblique. » – Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus: Les mollusques marins du Roussillon vol.I fasc.1, Paris 1882, p.40.
 

Shell small, with a high spire; whorls shouldered with impressed suture; 4 sharp varices per whorl, winged on the last whorl; aperture ovate, round posteriorly, slightly angular anteriorly; presence of subsutural anal tubes on some varices; anterior siphonal canal moderately long, winged, closed; outer lip smooth, winged exteriorly; inner lip gently erected; no umbilicus. Some spiral sculpture appears on the last whorl, obsolete on the body, more visible on the wings.
 

« We believe we can propose this family for a group of shells, most of which have a variable, irregular shape, and which depends on their stay in the madreporic masses, where they are compressed and deformed. Some even have a tubular channel, with the help of which they follow the incessant development of the madrepores which give them asylum. These still little known animals are very similar to purpurids. » J.-C. Chenu: Manuel de conchyliologie et paléontologie conchlyliologique, Paris 1859-1862, p.172. « All species for which the ecology is known are symbionts (ecto or endobiotic) of anthozoans (including sea-anemones, gorgonians and reef-building coral species), on which they feed. » A. Richter: “The coralliophiline (Gastropoda: Muricidae) radiation: repeated colonizations of the deep sea?”, The nautilus 123(3) p.113.
 

« Shell spindle-shaped, biconical, with a very high spire; whorls strongly keeled at their upper third, concave above, convex below; ornamentation consisting of high, scaly spiral cords, intersected by numerous longitudinal waves, not very conspicuous, each of which forming, however, on the keel a large triangular thorn-like scale, imparting to the shell a special crowned appearance reminiscent of the spire of a Columbarium; umbilicus widely open, very deep, surrounded by a strongly scaly hull, and similar in all to that of the Latiaxis; columella simple, slightly twisted at the base at the level of the peri-umbilical hull; peristome subcontinuous posteriorly, labial margin internally crenate and furrowed. » – G. Coen: “Del genere Pseudomurex (Monterosato, 1872)”, Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano vol.69 fasc.1, Milano 1922, p.68 (sect. Babelomurex).
 

Shell small, biconical, whitish; whorls often carinate, sculptured of numerous radial folds crossed by spiral cords; the whole surface granulose, squamous, frillly, or smooth; aperture D-shaped, open anteriorly on a wide siphonal canal that is often short; labial margin often expanded; no posterior notch. Some few species (porphyroleuca, violacea…) can bear a well developed columellar callus; but most of time it does not expand far from the aperture.
 

« Shell similar in shape to that of the Fusomurex: spiral cords equal to each other, not alternating, scaly, as well as their intervals; numerous longitudinal ribs, slightly protruding, but very acute, which, intersecting the spiral funicles, originate squamiform protuberances reminiscent of those of the Murex of the subgenus Muricantha, and give the whole shell a rough appearance up to the point of looking bristling. » – G. Coen: “Del genere Pseudomurex (Monterosato, 1872)”, Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano vol.69 fasc.1, Milano 1922, p.69 (sect. Hirtomurex). Anterior siphonal canal usually longer than in Coralliophila; surface more generously provided in spikes, cups, squamae…
 

Shell ovate to subglobose, with often a short conical spire and a very developed body whorl; labial margin often thick, serrated inside; anterior siphonal canal short and large, posterior siphonal notch rarely obsolete, more often giving the adapical end of the lip a wavy appearance. Operculum with the nucleus at the middle of the outer margin.
 

Shell small to medium-sized, biconical, with a short spire and convex whorls, angular at the shoulder; sculpture made up of radial folds crossed by numerous spiral cords and striae, some strong, some weak, the strongest being found at the shoulder, where their intersections with the radials often show some spikes or tubercles; umbilicus narrow, partially covered by the columella.
 

Shell medium-sized to large, globular ovate, with a depressed spire. « Aperture oval, semi-orbicular posteriorly, anteriorly slightly narrowed; beak short, curved [end of the anterior siphonal canal]; canal open; outer lip crenellated or sinuous; internal lip folded, projecting in front, covering the umbilicus. Columella not very convex, sinuous. Umbilicus wrinkled. » – C. F. Schumacher: Essai d’un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés”, Copenhagen 1817, p.214.
 

Shell small to medium-sized, ovate-oblong, slightly bulging; «the spire more often shorter than the body whorl. Aperture oval, canaliculated posteriorly; beak very short, curved, scalloped; canal open; outer lip more or less crenate, toothed, slightly sinuous; internal lip adherent, thin. Columella slightly flattened and excavated. » – C. F. Schumacher: Essai d’un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés”, Copenhagen 1817, p.226.