Corcra Snail

[Seilida corcra]

The corcra snail (/ˈkɔɹ kɹǝ snāl/), scientific name Seilida corcra, also known as the spiny dye snail, is a medium sized marine gastropod mollusk (sea snail) native to the coastal cordgrass flats of the Mascotic Marshes.

Slow moving and carnivorous, corcra snails are opportunist predators that have been observed to attack their prey in coordinated groups. Fossilized shells of corcra snails have been found which are over 3 million years old.

Corcra snails were highly prized in ancient times for their use in the production of a rare dye known as Chök’Yi Purple, named for the ancient Cyrontian capital which was the only source of the coveted luxury trade item.

Description

The corcra snail has a spiny conical shell between 2 and 4 orlach long. Its high spire is comprised of seven whorls made up of angulated segments. Many shells display distinctive banding in a variety of dark colors.

Distribution

The spiny dye snail is indigenous to the tidal zones of the Mascotic Marshes, where it resides among the cordgrass hummocks that mark the boundary with the Torrean Sea. It is found nowhere else in the world. The fossil record confirms it has exclusively occupied the area at the mouth of the Pyrat River since prehistoric times.

Chök’Yi Purple

The mucous secretions of the corcra snail were used in ancient times to create a pigment so expensive it could only be afforded by royalty. The natural purple dye was known as Chök’Yi Purple, from the city which had a monopoly on the secret process of creating it.

The dye was highly prized in ancient times because rather than fading when exposed to sunlight, it became brighter and more vivid. In many societies the privilege of wearing “the purple” was restricted by law to the highest classes of the aristocracy.

It took over 200,000 corcra snail shells to produce a single uns of the dye, making it prohibitively expensive except for the wealthiest of buyers. Although the corcra snail is still harvested for the natural pigment is secretes, modern science has not been able to recreate the ancient method of making a natural purple dye that can retain its color as well as Chök’Yi Purple, without ultimately degrading to an indigo blue.

Chök’Yi Purple

Corcra Snail

Seilida corcra

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ANIMAL SPECIES

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Seilida corcra

Fossilized Corcra Snail Shell

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Scientific Classification

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Kingdom:

Ainiví

Phylum:

Moilisca

Class:

Gaistropoida

Genus:

Seilida

Species:

S. corcra

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<sup>Image Credits:
1. H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons
2. Hectonichus, CC BY-SA 3.0 < https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons</sup>