Phalium glaucum
Five views of a shell of Phalium glaucum (Linné, 1758)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Cassidae
Genus:	Phalium
Species:	P. glaucum
Binomial name
Phalium glaucum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
Bezoardica vulgaris Schumacher, 1817 Buccinum glaucum Linnaeus, 1758 (original combination) Cassidea strigata Shirley, 1911 Cassis bezoar Gray, 1839 Cassis glauca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Phalium glaucum, common name the grey bonnet or glaucus bonnet, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.^[1]

Distribution

This species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from Eastern Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania) to Southern Japan and Melanesia.^[2]

Habitat

This species lives on sandy bottoms with seagrass meadows, in intertidal and shallow subtidal areas to a depth of about 10 m.^[3]

Description

Shell of Phalium glaucum can reach a length of 60–147 millimetres (2.4–5.8 in).^[2]

These shells are helmet shaped with a large body whorl and tiny spires. The surface of shell is smooth and uniformly greyish or pale brown. The molluscs have a white body and a large yellowish or whitish foot which is edged in reddish brown. The operculum is bright yellow and fan-shaped. Usually this sea snail buries itself in the sandy areas with the long siphon sticking out.^[3]