Shell to 62.0 mm in length, elongate-ovate to fusiform-elongate, teleoconch of 6.5-8.5 convex whorls, protoconch of 3-4 conical, glassy-white to pale lilac or pink, smooth embryonic whorls. Post-embryonic whorls with usually 3 spiral cords and bisecting axial grooves, penultimate whorl with 4-12 spiral threads of varying width and strength, body whorl with 14-32 spiral threads and 5-8 cords on the siphonal fasciole; the spiral threads are bisected by moderately deep, straight or curved axial grooves which produce laterally elongated fillets; axial grooves number 28-61 on the body whorl and 20-40 on the penultimate whorl. Aperture equal in height or longer than the spire, smooth within, outer lip convex and pointed at the base, thickened in adults and faintly crenulate; columella with 4-5 prominent folds, siphonal canal straight or slightly recurved. White to creamy-yellow in color, ornamented with one or two irregular, orange, reddish-brown or dark brown transverse bands on the body whorl; in some specimens the band is continuous, in others it is in the form of coalescing axial zones. The earlier whorls are ornamented with a transverse row of blotches of the same color and adjoin the sutures; aperture cream to pale yellow in color.

The outer lip is slightly convex becoming more convex at the anterior where it curves broadly to the anterior canal and there is a prominent dorsal notch. The protoconch has about 4 convex, brown-red to pink whorls. In the wider group, there are 5 or 6 major spiral cords with straight sides parallel to the axis or sloped outward in the adaxial direction and minor cords at the anterior of the major cords and on the shoulder. Cords are crossed by axial riblets that are flattened on later whorls and convex on early whorls, producing squarish nodes at the intersections. In the narrower group, there are considerably more spiral cords per whorl with narrower axial riblets. The columella is straight with two to four significant spiral folds, often with the posterior two larger. The columellar callus is raised at the outer edge in the area of spiral folds. The fasciole is convex to straight with about 4 closely spaced spiral folds. Shell exterior color is white with brown to red-brown presutural bands with adapical triangular extensions, often with the brown/brown-red confined to tops of nodes and with a few other nodes brown/ brown-red. The aperture is white.

Range - From the Red Sea to Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands. In sand and coral-rubble and weed, usually subtidal from 5-463 m.