Vasum, common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 the vase snails or vase shells, is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of mostly rather large predatory sea snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s, marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusks within the family Turbinellidae

Turbinellidae

Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the order Neogastropoda.-Distribution:Species in this family are found world-wide, mostly in tropical shallow waters but some in deep waters.- Subfamilies :...

.

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

Periostracum

The periostracum is a thin organic coating or "skin" which is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including mollusks and brachiopods. Among mollusks it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in bivalves and gastropods, but it is also found in cephalopods such as the...

, a low spire

Spire (mollusc)

A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...

s, and 2, 3 or 4 plait

Plait (gastropod)

A plait is an anatomical feature which is present the shells of some snails, or gastropods. This sculpture occurs often in the shells of marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda, but it is also found in some pulmonate land snails....

s on the columella.

Species

Species within the genus Vasum include:

• Vasum capitellum (Linnaeus, 1758)
• Vasum ceramicum
• Vasum globulus
  Vasum globulus
  Vasum globulus is a rare species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turbinellidae, subfamily Vasinae, the vase snails.-Description:...
  
  (Lamarck, 1816)
• Vasum muricatum (Born, 1778)
• Vasum rhinoceras
  Vasum rhinoceras
  Vasum rhinoceras, common name the rhinoceras vase snail or rhinoceras vase shell, is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk within the family Turbinellidae.-References:* info and more images at gastropods.com...
  
  
• Vasum suwanneensis Petuch, 1997 (Extinct)
• Vasum turbinellus
• Vasum truncatum
• Vasum cassiforme
  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:...
  
  (Kiener, 1841)