''Cypraecassis rufa'' is a species 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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

in the family Cassidae. It is commonly known as the bullmouth shell or red helmet shell, and also as the cameo shell. Cypraecassis rufaGlobal

Distribution

This species is found off the southern African coast from northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

and Mozambique. It is more common in Mozambique.Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. 2005. ''Offshore Shells of Southern Africa'' It is also a common shell to find on the shores of Kenya.

References

External links

Cassidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cassidae-stub