The basic color of these pyriform shells is light beige or light tan, crossed by three transversal white bands with a zigzag pattern.

The base of the shell is yellow or orange-brown with some brown small spots, extended along both sides.

In the living cowries the mantle is orange-red, with white papillae.

This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along Aldabra, Maldives, Chagos, the Comores, the East Coast of South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, the Mascarene Basin, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, the Seychelles, Somalia, and Tanzania and in the western Pacific Ocean along Melanesia, Bali, Philippines, Australia and Polynesia, except Hawaii.

These cowries live in intertidal waters up to 5–20 metres (16–66 ft) of depth, in sandy lagoons and on coral reef, usually hiding under coral and rocks.