[2] The shell of an adult Gibbula ardens can be as large as 8–16 millimetres (0.31–0.63 in).

The solid, umbilicate shell has a depressed conic shape with a variable sculpture.

The 5 or 6 lirae on the penultimate whorl are frequently grooved, and usually with lirulae between them.

The base of the shell contains about 8 principal concentric lirae.

[3] This common species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea in the seagrass prairies of Posidonia oceanica; on the Atlantic coast of Portugal.