This species is mainly distributed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean including the Caribbean Sea, and in the waters off South Carolina, Florida, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba and the Bermudas.

The shell is elongated, its basic color is light brown, with small whitish ocellated spots on the dorsum, like a young fawn (hence the Latin name cervus, meaning 'deer').

The dorsum also shows a few transverse clearer bands, and a longitudinal line where the two edges of the mantle meet.

The mantle of the living cowry is dark grayish and completely covered in short fringes.

Living cowries can mainly be encountered under corals and rocks in shallow waters at a maximum depth of 35 m. They feed on algae.