Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes. The distribution of this species is restricted to Southeast Asia, from Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, to the South China Sea and the Philippines.This volute is often collected for food by local fishermen. The shells are also often used as decoration, or as scoops for powdery substances in local markets. The shell is also traditionally utilized by the native fishermen to bail out their boats, therefore it is commonly called "bailer shell".
