Fusiform, biconical, shortly sometimes feebly ribbed, smoothish, with a slightly constricted suture, of a yellowish-buff colour. Sculpture: Longitudinals: above the middle of each whorl is a row of tubercles, which stand out on the upper whorls rather sharp and rounded, but on the lower whorls are elongated into slight, oblique ribs, which tend to become obsolete on the last whorl, and do not extend to the base. They are parted by shallow rounded furrows, which are a good deal broader than the ribs. There are about thirteen of these on each whorl; they do not extend in the least to the sinus-area above the tubercles. The surface is very closely scored with coarsish lines of growth. Spirals: the line of the tubercles forms a rather acute carination, of which there is hardly a trace in the curve of the whorls themselves. The whole surface is covered with harsh, unequal, irregular, flatly rounded threads, which are cut into small coarse granulations by the lines of growth; this sculpture is most developed on the base and snout, less so in the sinus-area, least so of all on the rib-area. Colour buff below the yellow epidermis, which is coarse and harsh, but not thick; the surface of the shell below it is smooth and free from the granulated texture, but is curiously reticulated by minute interrupted wrinkles, whose course is at right angles to the lines of growth. Spire high and conical; its profile-lines are little interrupted by the contraction of the suture. Apex eroded in all the specimens. Whorls 10 to 11 of regular, rather rapid increase, shortish, with a largish, sloping, but hardly concave shoulder above and a very slight contraction below. They are angulated by the projection of the line of tubercles, but are otherwise little convex; the last is a little tumid and considerably elongated, a little contracted on the base, and gradually drawn out into the conical, straight, longish, and at the end smallish snout. Suture rather deep, and strongly marked by the angle at which the superior and inferior whorls meet. Mouth buff-coloured within, rather long and narrow, pear-shaped, pointed above, with a longish, broad, and open canal below: the direction is very little oblique. Outer lip curves pretty equally from its origin to the edge of the canal, from which to the point of the snout its course is nearly straight: on leaving the body it retires at once, but very slightly and regularly, so as to form the shallow and openly rounded sinus, from which it advances with a long and regular sweep to the front of the mouth, and then curves slowly backward to the point of the snout: it is thin throughout; above it is straight, but lower down a little patulous. Inner lip spreads rather broadly across the pillar, highly polished, buff-coloured, with a slightly raised edge; it is very little concave above, straight but rather short on the pillar, which is cut off to a long fine point, with a blunt, rounded, very slightly twisted strongish edge. H. 1.75 inch. B. 0.68 inch. Penultimate whorl, height 0.26 inch. Mouth, height 0.85 inch, breadth 0.45 inch.

This species has a vague general resemblance to Pleurotoma sanctijohannis Smith, from Japan; but that is not ribbed, and has a much longer mouth. Judging by the figures (see Lischke, Japan. Meer. Conch., pt. 3, p. 22, pl i. fig. 1, and Weinkanff, Conch. Cab. (ed Küster), p. 51, pl xi. fig. 6), it in » good deal like Pleurotoma kaderleyi, Lischke, but is smaller, considerably less elongated, and very different in colour. It has a very considerable resemblance to two Eocene Pleurotomas, viz. Pleurotoma selysii Köninck, and Pleurotoma nodulosa, Lam., between which it occupies somewhat of an intermediate place. Than Pleurotoma selysii it is stumpier in the spire, shorter in the pillar, and, especially in the upper whorls, more angulated. Than Pleurotoma nodulosa it is much larger, each whorl is much higher, the body-whorl is much longer and narrower, and, especially in the young shell, is much more contracted in the base.

Proper determination of this species is rather intricate due to the very heterogeneous type material. Powell (1969) erroneously described Watsons syntypes as consisting of two shells with rounded lower whorls and obsolescent sculpture and one shell angulate with strong axially costae. He illustrated the latter specimen and designated it as the holotype (correctly named lectotype in the 'Measurement' and Types' paragraphs). Actually, one of the two paralectotypes (H = 33.3 mm) has a rounded body whorl with obsolete axials while the axial sculpture on spire whorls is almost the same as in the lectotype. The second paralectotype is represented by a small (H = 18.5 mm) and quite dissimilar shell, characterized by strongly angled whorls with axial sculpture consisting of strong and rounded tubercles at the place of whorl angulation. This specimen is so distinct that one could easily assign it to a separate species if it was not found in the same sample.
Two at first glance rather different shells from the John Murray Expedition stn 62 fit however in the range of variability described above. The larger shell (H = 23.4 mm. ) is comparable to the lectotype, but has less convex whorls with a less pronounced subsutural slope. The smaller shell (H = 17.5 mm.) is very similar to the smaller paralectotype, but has even stronger peripheral nodules. Small specimens (14-15 mm in height) from stn 185 have shells and sculpture intermediate between the extreme variants. In some of the latter specimens, the spiral ribs are more widely spaced on the shell base and reduced in number on the subsutural slope.
Thus, C. paupera appears to be very variable species with extreme variants being quite dissimilar to each other but connected by intermediate forms.
The species was included by Powell (1969) into the genus Turricula Schumacher. 1817. However its operculum has a terminal nucleus characteristic of the genus Comitas.
Surcula suratensis Thiele, 1925 (= Surcula coreanica of von Martens, 1903, not of Adams & Reeve, 1850) is similar to some forms of C. paupera and after examination of type material it may appear to be a synonym of the latter.

Indonesia. Arafura Sea. // Indonesia, Gulf of Aden, and Gulf of Oman. 1463-2000m. (Sysoev)