This species occurs from the Mediterranean Sea to the Orkney north of Scotland and Norway.

In the British Isles the shells are known as "cowries", except in Caithness, Orkney and Shetland where they are called Groatie Buckies.

In the veliger stage they have a four-lobed velum (a structure used for swimming and particulate food collection) with very long lobes.

The Linnaean name Trivia europea, now lapsed, referred to the supposed single species.

[3] They are some of the earliest European examples of false cowrie shells used in necklaces and ornaments, for the most part associated with male skeletons.

While the trivia genus superficially resembles the true ribbed cowries from the tropics, the two species are not closely related.