Some murexes are colorful, but their charm lies much more in the variety of their ornamentation: their spines, frills, fronds, and varices. Murexes may be thick and heavy, or cometimes delicate and fragile. The siphonal canal is sometimes short and broad, but may otherwise be long and tubular. The brown, corneous operculum is usually pointed at one end. Murexes can be found in all seas but are particularly abundant in tropical waters, on or close to coral reefs, where they prey on other invertebrates.