(Original description of Helix nitens Michaud, 1831 in Latin) The shell is orbicular and depressed, with a prominent, wide umbilicus.

It is thin, transparent, and smooth to the touch, featuring very fine longitudinal striations.

The coloration is often dark horn-like, sometimes greenish-white, and paler on the underside.

The aperture is depressed, oblique, and expansive, with a simple, acute peristome.

[2] It is distinct from Aegopinella nitidula by its last quarter of the whorl being flattened and sometimes curving slightly downwards.