Radular tooth: Anterior section of the tooth much longer than the posterior section of the tooth; waist is not obvious; barb and blade are short; accessory process well developed; distal end of the accessory process is not hooked; basal spur is absent.
Shell characters: Shell surface has minute ridges; the spire is conical to convex in profile; shoulders are rounded; the shell is ovate to elongated conical in shape; the anal notch is moderate to shallow; anterior notch may be absent or moderate in depth; the operculum is about l/5th to l/4th of the aperture length; the periostracum is smooth; the protoconch is multispiral.

This subgenus includes species whose shells are ornamented by ridges. These may be minute and reach the shoulder. Chelyconus and Pionoconus are very similar conchologically, however, molecular studies suggest that they should be recognized as separate (sub)genera (e.g., Espiritu et al., 2001; Duda & Palumbi, 2004; Bandyopadhyay et al, 2008).

One species (Chelyconus ermineus) occurs in the Atlantic and another (C. purpurascens) occurs in the East Pacific region.