The ovate, conical shell is whitish, ashy or reddish, often with two brown bands which are sometimes interrupted.

The upper edge of the whorls is flattened, and bordered by rounded tubercles, which are separated from the longitudinal folds by a deep stria running below them.

The ovate aperture is whitish, contracted at the top by a transverse fold of the left lip.

The outer lip is emarginated at its upper edge, marked interiorly with transverse striae in great numbers.

It gives rise from the middle to the base to a pretty thick, projecting callosity, in the form of a keel.