Caracol Purpura: History, Dye Process + Conservation

The purple snail (Plicopurpura pansa) lives on the rocky shores of the Pacific coast, from Baja California to Peru. As a defense mechanism, it produces a secretion that turns a deep purple color when oxidized, which has long been valued as a natural dye for textiles. Because of intensive overexploitation in the 1980s that pushed the species to near extinction, it is now federally protected in Mexico.

Today, only a small group of Mixtec men from Pinotepa de Don Luis, Oaxaca (known as tintoreros (dyers)) are legally authorized to extract this dye. They use ancestral techniques that ensure the animal’s survival and promote the conservation of the species. In the past, the dyed cotton thread was used by local women to weave their community’s traditional garments. Nowadays, the scarcity of the purple snail — linked to environmental, social, economic, and legal factors — has drastically reduced both the dyeing practice and the production of traditional textiles.

History of the Purple Snail Dye

Throughout history, many cultures around the world have produced purple dyes from different types of sea snails. For example, in the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions, the famous royal purple or Tyrian purple was highly prized and reserved for nobility. In Asia, similar dyes were used exclusively for royal garments. However, in those cases, the snails had to be killed to extract the dye, which led to the extinction of several species.

The case of Plicopurpura pansa is different. Its dye can be extracted without harming or killing the animal. This carnivorous marine mollusk, with a conical gray shell, lives in warm waters along the Pacific coast—from Baja California to Peru and the Galápagos Islands. It reproduces between March and July, during low tide. Females can reach up to 8.8 cm in length and males around 5.9 cm, though such sizes are now rare.

The snail produces a milky liquid that it uses to defend itself and paralyze prey. When released, the secretion is white, but as it oxidizes it changes through yellow and green hues before turning its characteristic purple color.

In the Americas, purple dyes from Plicopurpura pansa and related species have been used for centuries. Historical records show their use among the Nicoya people of Costa Rica, the Nahua of Michoacán, and the Chontal of Oaxaca. In southern Mexico, the dye has been known since pre-Hispanic times, as seen in the Lienzo de Chiptic (early 16th century), discovered in Chiapas.

The Process of Milking, Dyeing, and Weaving

The tintoreros begin their journey from Pinotepa de Don Luis. In earlier times, they would stop at the church of San Pedro Pochutla to pray for permission to “milk” the snails and for protection during their work. Although this ritual is no longer practiced, it remains a symbolic reminder of the deep spiritual and cultural value that the Mixtec people associate with the purple snail.

Dyeing is carried out only during the dry season and on days with a visible moon. The tintoreros are experts at reading the tides and avoid working during the snail’s breeding season or in the same spots repeatedly, allowing populations to recover.

During low tide, when the rocks are exposed, each tintorero carries a skein of cotton thread, which he dyes as he finds the snails. Using a small wooden stick, he gently removes the snail from the rock and presses or blows softly on its body to obtain the secretion. Only mature snails of appropriate size are used. Once the dye is extracted, the snail is returned alive to the sea, carefully placed back on the rock and moistened to ensure its survival. To dye a 250-gram skein of cotton, around 300 snails are needed.

Afterward, the dyed skeins are handed over to the women of the family, who wash them to remove sea salt and let them dry. They then prepare a mixture of water and corn starch, in which they soak the skeins to strengthen the threads before weaving them on a backstrap loom. The women weavers are highly skilled, not only technically but also in their deep understanding of color symbolism and traditional design patterns, knowledge that they have passed down since childhood.

In the past, the women of Pinotepa de Don Luis used this thread to make traditional garments, especially enredos (wrap-around skirts). Today, because of the limited amount of snail-dyed thread, most artisans have turned to commercial cotton yarns, which has transformed and reduced traditional weaving practices.

Conservation + Current Challenges

Unlike other purple-dye-producing snails, Plicopurpura pansa can be milked without killing the animal, as long as proper care is taken, ensuring that the snail remains safe from predators, covered by water, and firmly attached to the rock after milking.

However, since the 1980s, the snail’s population has declined dramatically along the Oaxacan coast. During the early 1980s, the species was nearly wiped out by mass exploitation in the Huatulco area, carried out semi-illegally by the Japanese company Púrpura Imperial. The company hired local fishermen who lacked the traditional knowledge needed to extract the dye without harming the snail. Working for pay by volume, they devastated the population in just a few years.

The Mixtec dyers from Pinotepa de Don Luis, noticing the species’ sharp decline, sought help from experts such as anthropologist Marta Turok to alert authorities and stop the company’s activities. It was a long and complex struggle in which the dyers had to prove their deep understanding of the snail’s biology and their sustainable harvesting techniques. Supported by biologists, they eventually succeeded in halting Púrpura Imperial’s operations.

Their knowledge was then officially recognized, and they obtained legal authorization to be the only people allowed to milk the snail in Mexico.

Even today, the purple snail population has not fully recovered in Oaxaca. Although it is protected by law and only a small group of Mixtec families can harvest it in Huatulco, the species and this traditional activity still face numerous threats to their survival.

The Struggle of the Mixtec Dyers of Pinotepa de Don Luis

Today, in the Huatulco region, only a small group of Mixtec men from Pinotepa de Don Luis hold the legal right to extract the dye from this mollusk.

It is unclear when this tradition began, but the Mixtec community of Pinotepa de Don Luis has a long-standing connection to the purple dye, which is deeply tied to their cosmovision, the stars, and the natural elements. In the Mixtec language Tu’un Savi, the dye is called tixinda.

Among these dyers, the most renowned is Habacuc Avendaño, who began this craft as a teenager in 1956, long before vehicles were common in the region and the journey from Pinotepa to the coast was made on foot. Watching the elders, he learned how to milk the snails carefully, understanding both their life cycle and the behavior of the sea to avoid harm to the animals and to himself.

Habacuc played a key role in the movement to stop Púrpura Imperial’s exploitation and has continued to teach younger Mixtec men the traditional methods. Along with other tintoreros, he has tirelessly promoted awareness about the importance of protecting the species and preserving the cultural significance of the purple dye for the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis.

Our trip Guardianes del Caracol is a non-profit fundraising trip.
We will offer this experience once or more a year, with all profits being donated to the biologists and researchers working to preserve Plicopurpura pansa.