[1] Conostichus is a plug-shaped vertical trace fossil, with a diameter varying from half to double the height.

[1] Transverse constrictions and longitudinal fluting may be present, while the burrow fills occasionally show concentric laminae.

The apex bears a twelve-fold symmetry, with the apical disc varying from small in C. broadheadi to broad and flat in C.

[7] Branson (1961) classified Conostichus as part of Scyphomedusae, interpreting the fossils as representing a basal disk and lappets corresponding to the strobilation stage of modern scyphozoans.

[3] This hypothesis was later criticized, as it could not explain why the successive cones observed in Conostichus fossils did not share the same center and size, and were separated by layers of clay.