| The earliest form of purple dye was produced by squeezing shellfish called the murex sea mussel or porphura. |
| However, the creatures inside murex shells are edible and are consumed in some parts of the world. |
| The region around Tyre was well known in the ancient world for its purple dye made from the murex grandaris mollusc. |
| The term codex aureus describes a volume with gold letters written on sheets that have been stained with a purple dye called murex. |
| The genus murex is supposed to have been the first species indicated by Aristotle. |
| It was produced by a combination of the secretions of the murex and buccinum. |
