Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Cassidae

Cassis madagascariensis

(Lamarck, 1822)

Queen Helmet

Shell size to 25 cm; shell massive and heavy. Sculpture of three spiral rows of blunt spines. Parietal shield and outer lip salmon-pink, external surface pale-cream. Parietal shield triangular, with rounded corners. Aperture and interspaces between parietal shield lip teeth stained brown, interspaces between outer lip teeth sometimes stained brown. The species is rarely found on the beach on Sanibel and other barrier islands. The shell illustrated in the main image is a juvenile measuring 71.9 mm, collected by Bob Miller on the eastern section of Sanibel; the small is a 34 mm juvenile collected by José H. Leal, also on Sanibel.