A dark brown area which is roughly rectangular is present on each side close to the edge.

The base is white to light beige, with thin transverse stripes.

At night in the living cowries, the extremely papillose brownish mantle usually covers the shell completely, camouflaging the animal.

This species and its subspecies occur in the Indian Ocean along the coasts of Aldabra, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania, as well in the Western Pacific Ocean (Malaysia, Australia, Philippines, Polynesia and Hawaii).

Like most other cowries, during the day they usually hide under rocks slabs with the mantle drawn into the shell.