This mollusc can be distinguished from other similar species by its inflated shell and by the dark siphon.

In the Red Sea it is commonly found in the massive coral Astreopora myriophthalma.

However it has now been found that the ammonium products that the mollusc excretes serve as nutrients, and the benefits of these to the coral colony may outweigh the disadvantages of structural weakening, so the relationship between the two is probably mutualistic.

[4] Other host corals for this bivalve include Goniastrea pectinata,[5] and Plesiastrea versipora.

[3] When molluscs of this species were removed from their host corals, researchers found that they tended to spawn in the last quarter of the lunar month or around the time of the new moon.