However, according to Price et al. (2011), based on anatomy, there are two distinct species, the first one in South Africa and Mozambique, the second one in European seas.

[3] Philine aperta is a sturdy, solid-bodied animal, white to cream in colour, with an internal shell and a folded appearance.

The body is divided into a head shield, which is flattened for burrowing in sandy substrates, a posterior shield that overlies the viscera and internal shell, and two lateral lobes, one on each side.

[3] Philine aperta is an active, sand-dwelling, predatory species; it eats small molluscs and worms which are swallowed whole, and then crushed in its gizzard.

Its egg masses are translucent, sausage-shaped and are attached to sandy bottoms by long mucous threads.