Shell up to 48 mm (about 2 inches) in length, elongate-ovate, heavy and solid, sutures deeply impressed and occasionally ledged without being channeled. Whorls 6,5-8, apart from 1,5-2 white, smooth and conical nuclear whorls, spire whorls flat-sided, sculptured with deep or shallow spiral grooves and numerous, fine longitudinal hair-lines; in deeply grooved specimens the resulting cords are elevated and almost angulate, in shallowly grooved individuals the cords are weak and almost flat, with the exception of the basal cords. Spiral cords number from 3-8 on the penultimate and from 16-28 on the body whorl, inclusive of the basal cords. Aperture longer than the spire, moderately narrow and smooth within, outer lip thickened, convexly elongate and finely crenulate at the margin. Parietal wall glazed, anterior half of the columella distinctly calloused and with 4-6 moderately slender, oblique folds; siphonal fasciole straight and occasionally weakly calloused, siphonal notch distinct. Dark tan to dark brown in colour, ornamented with a single, white or yellowish-brown transverse band on the spire whorls and anterior to the body whorl suture; the band on the last whorl is either narrow or very broad and occasionally reaches the body whorl suture. Interior of aperture white, light violet or greyish-brown, columellar folds white or bluish-white. Young specimens have small white spots sparsely scattered over the body whorl. Periostracum thin, brown and moderately opaque.

The species is variable in form, sculpture and ornamentation. Several colour and sculptural forms occur throughout the species distributional range, and a weak subspecies lives along the Indian coast and the Gulf of Oman. These forms, originally described as species, are as follows:
* aurantia form: the typical form is spirally corded and the subsutural band is moderately broad.
* crassa form: the sculpture is more discreet, the shell is dark brown and broad, and the subsutural band is moderately narrow; this form is more frequently encountered in the western Pacific.
* michelinii form: the sculpture is rather fine and weak, and the subsutural band is very broad and extends to the body whorl suture; this is the M. limbifera of authors, and is generally found in the Indian Ocean.
* nanus form: generally smaller and more slender, the sculpture is of about the same strength as in the typical form, and the subsutural band is very narrow and has additional nebulous white spots within the pale zone; this form occurs in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Andaman Islands.

Gulf of Aden to Natal, S.E. Australia and Polynesia.