« Shell oval, convex, rather thin, semitransparent, somewhat glossy, especially on the upper part, where the spines have disappeared. Sculpture: extremely numerous and delicate striae which radiate towards the margin; these striae are crested by rows of minute tubercles, each of which supports a fine short hair-like spine or prickle; the spines are easily removed, and disappear when the shell is subjected to the action of potash-water, showing that they are of a chitinous nature; the apex is quite smooth. Colour white. Beak very small, incurved and twisted downwards, forming a single whorl […] its propinquity to the hinder margin is in the proportion of 2½ to 6 as representing the total length of the shell… » – J. G. Jeffreys : “On the Mollusca procured during the cruise of H. M. S. Triton, between the Hebrides and Faeroes in 1882”, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1883, p.393.
 
The shell of this species differs from that of C. viminensis by its flatter spire, by the more marked sculpture, the partially hidden protoconch… However, some anatomical comparisons between both forms would be greatly appreciated.