Volutella caestus

Volutella caestus
Shell of Volutella caestus (specimen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Turbinelloidea
Family: Vasidae
Genus: Volutella
Species:
V. caestus
Binomial name
Volutella caestus
(Broderip, 1833)
Synonyms[1]
  • Turbinella ardeola Valenciennes, 1832
  • Turbinella caestus Broderip, 1833 (original combination)
  • Vasum caestus (Broderip, 1833) superseded combination

Volutella caestus, common name the helmet vase, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Vasidae.[1]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Caribbean Sea (Florida, West Indies) and in the Pacific Ocean (Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Galapagos Islands).

Shell description

The length of the shell varies between 57 mm and 135 mm.

(Original description in Latin) The shell is somewhat rhomboid in shape, extremely thick and very heavy, and white in color. The body whorl is longitudinally somewhat folded, angled, and transversely grooved; the angle is armed with very large, sharp, conical tubercles, and marked by very deep grooves. The basal ridges are tuberculate, with the penultimate ridge being the largest. The columella bears four folds. The outer lip is sinuate. The epidermis is thick and longitudinally striated. The umbilicus is large.[2]

References

  • Keen, A. M. (1971). Sea Shells of Tropical West America. Marine mollusks from Baja California to Peru. ed. 2. Stanford University Press. xv, 1064 pp., 22 pls
  • Valenciennes, A. (1832). Coquilles univalves marines de l'Amérique équinoxiale, recueillies pendant le voyage de MM. A. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland. In: Humboldt, A. von & Bonpland, A. (Eds), Recueil d'observations de zoologie et d'anatomie comparée: faites dans l'océan atlantique, dans l'intérieur du nouveau continent et dans la mer du sud pendant les années 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803. Vol. 2: 262-339, pl. 57. Paris: J. Smith, and Gide. pp. 283–284. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  • Vermeij, G.J. (2024). "Shell-based genus-level reclassification of the family Vasidae (Mollusca: Neogastropoda)". Zootaxa. 5405 (4): 526–544. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5405.4.3. PMID 38480172. Retrieved 10 September 2024.