''Vasum'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the vase snails or vase shells, is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of mostly rather large

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

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 ...

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 ...

s within the family

Turbinellidae Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. Members of this family are predators. Distribution Species in this family are found worldwide, mostly in tropical shallow waters but some in deep wat ...

.Bouchet, P. (2011). Vasum Röding, 1798. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205505 on 15 April 2012

Shell description

Shells of species in this genus are usually somewhat large, and are usually very thick and heavy. They are often vase-shaped, in the sense that the shell of most of the species is more or less widely conical. The shells have a thick

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

, a low

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

s, and 2, 3 or 4 plaits on the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

Species

Species within the genus ''Vasum'' include: * '' Vasum armatum'' (Broderip, 1833) * '' Vasum caestus'' (Broderip, 1833) * '' Vasum capitellum'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) * ''

Vasum cassiforme ''Vasum cassiforme'', common name the helmet vase, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinellidae. Distribution ''Vasum cassiforme'' lives in the southeastern and northeastern littoral of Braz ...

'' (Kiener, 1840) * '' Vasum ceramicum'' (

) * '' Vasum globulus'' (Lamarck, 1816) * '' Vasum lactisfloris'' Ferrario, 1983 * '' Vasum latiriforme'' Rehder & Abbott, 1951 * '' Vasum muricatum'' (Born, 1778) * '' Vasum rhinoceros'' (Gmelin, 1791) * '' Vasum stephanti'' Emerson & Sage, 1988 * '' Vasum truncatum'' (Sowerby III, 1892) * ''

Vasum tubiferum ''Vasum tubiferum'' is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk within the family Turbinellidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Vasum tubiferum (Anton, 1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

'' (Anton, 1838) * ''

Vasum turbinellus ''Vasum turbinellus'' is a species of gastropods belonging to the family Turbinellidae. The species is found in Western Africa, Indian Ocean, Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Ind ...

'' (

) Image:Vasum cassiforme.jpg, ''

'' Image:Vasum ceramicum - Osaka Museum of Natural History - DSC07843.JPG, '' Vasum ceramicum'' Image:Vasum muricatum 000.jpg, '' Vasum muricatum'' Image:Vasum rhinoceros (Gmelin, 1791) (4678840223) (2).jpg, '' Vasum rhinoceros'' Image:Vasum turbinellus 01.JPG, ''

'' ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Vasum aldridgei'' Nowell-Usticke, 1969: synonym of '' Attiliosa aldridgei'' (Nowell-Usticke, 1969) * ''Vasum castaneum'' Röding, 1798: synonym of '' Thais (Thalessa) tuberosa'' (Röding, 1798) * ''Vasum flindersi'' Verco, 1914: synonym of '' Altivasum flindersi'' (Verco, 1914) * ''Vasum turbinellum'' icaccepted as ''

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Vasum urna'' Röding, 1798 accepted as '' Vasum muricatum'' (Born, 1778)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3171025 Turbinellidae