Need help ID'ing shell

[paul monfils]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for sending the pics. Here are a couple of them:

<a href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis1.jpg" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis1.jpg">http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis1.jpg</a><!-- m --></a>

<a href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis2.jpg" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis2.jpg">http://members.cox.net/natura/Cassis2.jpg</a><!-- m --></a>

I guessed wrong. It's not a Melo. Melo came to mind because they are round and shiny kind of like Cypraea, large, and common in Australia. But ... this shell didn't come from Australia, not originally at least. This is Cassis madagascariensis, the Emperor Helmet.  It is found from the southeastern United States through the central Caribbean area.