Vasum cassiforme is a shallow-water gastropod that may reach 115 mm (about 4.5 inches). Its shell is heavy for its size, thick, presenting robust spines. Given the ending of the species name (cassi + forme = “shaped like a Cassis”), the general appearance of the species most likely reminded French malacologist Louis Charles Kiener (who described the species in 1840) of a helmet shell (family Cassidae). The shell color is generally whitish-cream or grayish, with a splash of mauve color on the large glazed *callus* formed on the parietal area (to the left of the aperture in the photo). The species is *endemic* to (lives exclusively in) northeastern and eastern Brazil. This shell is species number 37 in our new “Sculptures and Colors” exhibit in the Great Hall of Shells.
