''Cassis flammea'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of large

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cassidae The Cassidae are a taxonomic family of medium-sized, large, and sometimes very large sea snails commonly called helmet snails or bonnet snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Tonnoidea and the clade Littorinimorpha.Gofas, ...

, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.

Distribution

''Cassis flammea'' is found in Florida, the Caribbean, and Bahamas. Its abundance has decreased due to overcollection in some areas.

Description

It has a shell with shades of reddish-brown with wavy stripes. There are dark stripes on the outer lip of the shell. The lip around the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

forms a triangle shape. The shell may reach a maximum of 7 inches in length.Humann P. (1992). ''Reef creature Identification'', Edited by Ned Deloach. New World Publications, Inc., pp. 206–207. The shell may be covered by algae or other sessile marine organisms. The maximum recorded shell length is 154 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. . Cassis flammea bamboo point

Habitat

''Cassis flammea'' inhabits shallow tropical waters, in the depth range of 10 to 35 ft, usually in the

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

around reefs. The minimum recorded depth for this species is 1 m; maximum recorded depth is 12 m.

Feeding habits

These sea snails feed on

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

, which they typically hunt at night.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3138786 Cassidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus