In searching the web there doesn’t seem to be much on the difference between a cascabella pepper and cascabels.  There is a lot of confusion about these two peppers for obvious reasons.

The Cascabella pepper has a conical shape tapering to a point and colors ranging from yellow to orange. The Cascabella grows to a length of 2 inches and a diameter of 1 inch, has medium thick walls and is a favorite for pickling. These peppers range from 1,500 to 4,000 Scoville units. They tend to be spicy like a jalapeño but with a flavor similar to sport peppers.

Fresh cascabel (little bell) peppers are typically 2-3 cm in diameter and are a round pepper without the conical shape of the cascabella.  Fresh Cascabels colors range from green to red.  These fresh peppers are also sometimes referred to as bola chilis (ball chilis).  Instead of being a favorite for pickling like the cascabella the cascabel is typically used dried.  When these chilis are dried the flesh darkens to a deep red almost brown color and the dried seeds inside can be heard rattling.  The rattling sound is where the cascabel gets its name as the “little bell” and its nickname “rattle pepper.”

Both peppers belong to the species capsicum annuum.