It is commonly known as the mulberry whelk and is found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific and around the north and east coasts of Australia.

Each body whorl has five rows of purple or blackish, roughly square, nodules separated by pale grey areas with fine sculptured vertical and horizontal lines.

[2][3] The mulberry whelk is found on the north and east coasts of Australia and on islands in the central Indo-Pacific Ocean.

The process is believed to be assisted by the sulphuric acid it produces in its salivary glands which helps to soften and dissolve the calcium carbonate in the mollusc's shell.

This is in contrast to the rather similar Thais orbita which makes foraging movements up the beach well away from the sheltered niches to which it retreats at low tide.