''Vasum rhinoceros'',

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 rhinoceros vase snail or rhinoceros vase shell, 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

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 ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2011). Vasum rhinoceros (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=211102 on 2011-12-14 ;Subspecies: * ''Vasum rhinoceros attolinoi'' T. Cossignani, 2017 * ''Vasum rhinoceros rhinoceros'' (Gmelin, 1791)

Vasum rhinoceros (Gmelin, 1791) (4678840223) (2)

Description

The length of the shell: up to 90 mm, similar to ''

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 ...

'', in shape, but more rosy pink with light brown patches. The parietal wall is yellow-brown.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 ...

is wide, orange pink, with only three folds and large nodules on the shoulder. (Richmond, 1997).

Distribution

This species occurs in the Western Indian Ocean off

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Habitat

Shallow, rocky, sandy substrata.

References

* Spry, J.F. (1961). ''The sea shells of Dar es Salaam'': Gastropods. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56

External links

Gmelin, J. F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae

Abbott, R. T. (1959). The family Vasidae in the Indo-Pacific. Indo-Pacific Mollusca. 1 (1): 15-32
* hinoceros {{Gastropods described in 1791 {{Turbinellidae-stub