Cassis tessellata (Gmelin 1791)

Cassis tessellata, common name : the West African helmet, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.^[1]

Description

The shell is cone-shaped with a flattened apex, light with darker symmetrical spots. On the outer surface are small short spikes. The siphon (short and narrow) is strongly bent back. From the side of the mouth, the shell is white.^[2] The size of an adult shell varies between 66 mm and 300 mm.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean along Cape Verde and from Senegal to Angola.

References

• Gofas, S.; Afonso, J.P.; Brandào, M. (Ed.). (S.a.). Conchas e Moluscos de Angola = Coquillages et Mollusques d'Angola. [Shells and molluscs of Angola]. Universidade Agostinho / Elf Aquitaine Angola: Angola. 140 pp
• Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III
• Bernard, P.A. (Ed.) (1984). Coquillages du Gabon [Shells of Gabon]. Pierre A. Bernard: Libreville, Gabon. 140, 75 plates pp.
• Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.