Individual animals had a flat boot-shaped body and a thin rod-shaped appendage that may be a stem, or analogous to a foot or a tail.

Fossils of Cothurnocystis species have been found in Nevada, Scotland, Czech Republic, France and Morocco.

Some scientists claim to be able to see a structurally very basic notochord in the tail, and consequently consider the Stylophora to be a group of primitive chordates, calling them the "Calcichordata".

The so-called "obverse"-side ("toe" pointing left), is covered with one thin integument, at the "reverse"-side the integument is interrupted by a "strut" formed by a branch of an element near the attachment of the stem, and a branch of an element at the top of the theca.

Approximately from the attachment of the stem to the "toe"-spike, is a structure reminiscent of a windpipe, that has been interpreted as a series of slits in the integument.