''Cassis tuberosa'', the king helmet, 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 very large sea snail with a solid, heavy shell, a marine gastropod mollusc in the

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

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.Go ...

, 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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 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

Its minimum recorded depth is 0 m. and maximum recorded depth is 27 m. It 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 of shallow waters, they are easily accessed by the locality and 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