Shell up to 31 mm (about 1,25 inches) in length, elongate-ovate, solid, sutures narrowly ledged and sculptured with close-set, nodulose crenulations. Whorls 4,5-6, apart from 1,5 worn nuclear whorls, spire whorls weakly convex and slightly subangulate at the sutures, sculptured with deeply pitted spiral grooves which produce flat or slightly elevated spiral cords; the grooves number from 4-5 on the penultimate and from 10-13 on the body whorl, apart from 7-8 oblique spiral cords at the base. The whorls have broad, irregular and feeble axial folds which may become obsolete on the lower half of the body whorl or may persist to the aperture. Aperture longer than the spire, narrow and smooth within, outer lip thickened and presumably smooth; columella calloused anteriorly, parietal wall thinned, columella with 4 oblique folds. Siphonal fasciole short and straight, calloused and slightly twisted, siphonal notch distinct. White in colour, ornamented with reddish-brown axial streaks and lines in the grooves on the penultimate whorl, and on the body whorl the axial flames form transverse bands and occasional lines in the grooves; some specimens have additional, horizontally oriented white spots on the cords, and an overall cream-coloured cast may be present. The aperture is cream to yellow and the columella is cream and flushed with orange-brown.

Mitra alborufa: Described in Italian (click Italian flag)

The species is closely related to Q. puncticulata Lamarck, but lacks the wide-spaced, upcurved coronations of that species and has small, close-set nodules at the sutures; the two main colours are cream and reddish-brown.

East Africa. The species is known only from Somalia, and the actual range of the species is unknown.