The exterior is smooth and white and is etched with fine concentric lines running parallel with the margin which show the animal's annual growth stages.

The anterior scar (nearer the animal's head) is parallel with the pallial line, a fact that distinguishes this species from the otherwise similar chalky buttercup (Anodontia philippiana).

Its range extends from Bermuda and North Carolina southwards to the Gulf of Mexico and Costa Rica, and eastwards to Barbados.

It burrows in soft sediment to depths of 22 cm (9 in) and is found in lagoons, inlets and bays just below low water mark.

[3] The buttercup lucine is a filter feeder, drawing water into its mantle cavity through a long siphon that extends to the surface of the sediment.