''Cassis tuberosa'', the king helmet, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of very large

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

with a solid, heavy shell, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cassidae, the helmet shells and their allies.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean in: North Carolina, Florida, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Bermuda, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean at the Cape Verde Islands

King helmet Cassis tuberosa

Description

The maximum recorded gastropod shell, shell length is 301 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. . The shell of ''Cassis tuberosa'' is typically cream colored with dark brown spots. The dorsal surface will have fine growth lines and fine spiral lines to create a "canceled effect".Dias et al. (2017). "What do we know about Cassis tuberosa (Mollusca: Cassidae) a heavily exploited marine gastropod?"

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Habitat

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m. and maximum recorded depth is 27 m. The species resides in shallow coastal waters around sandy beaches, as well as reef environments. It lives in tandem with seagrass beds, macroalgae banks, rhodolith beds and coral rubble.

Human use

The shell of this species has been used for creating cameo (carving), cameos. The attractiveness of the shell is one of the main reasons ''C. tuberosa'' is taken for human use. Due to their preference for shallow waters, they are easily accessed by tourists.Mota, E. L. S., Alves, R. R. da N. and Dias, T. L. P. (2020) “Fishing, trade, and local ecological knowledge of the marine gastropod, Cassis tuberosa – a target species of the international shell trade”, ''Ethnobiology and Conservation'', 9. Available at

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References

External links

Malacolog
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2941308 Cassidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean