Shell rather small, 13-36 mm., of light build, elongate-fusiform, with a tall spire and a moderately long slightly flexed unnotched anterior canal. The protoconch is small, smooth, paucispiral and globular, ending in up to a quarter whorl of protractively arcuate thin axials. The adult whorls are smooth to weakly lirate, the main sculpture consisting of a peripheral row of scalelike to pointed tubercles, which are either on a simple angulation, or in some species, on a flangelike keel. Sinus peripheral, broadly open, rather shallow, U-shaped and defined over the whole shell in the form of distinct axial growth lines. Colour pattern typically absent; most of the species are pure white, but the New Zealand angustatus is maculated in brown. If angustatus, which was described as a Micantapex, is correctly assigned to Lucerapex, then the radula is very similar to that of Lophiotoma acuta, consisting of a pair of marginals, with the base spread like the jaws of a pair of calipers. Operculum leaf-shaped with a terminal nucleus. Range: Recent; East Africa, Aden to Philippines and down to south-eastern Australia and New Zealand, in deep water, 26-600 fathoms. Miocene; South Australia and Vic¬toria. Quaternary; Timor.

Diagnosis: Shell small (15 -30 mm), thin-walled, turriform, with high spire and slowly expanding whorls. Protoconch paucispiral, of 1.5-2 whorls, bulbous, smooth. Teleoconch whorls strongly angulate on periphery to pagodiform. Subsutural ramp weakly concave, with nearly straight profile; subsutural cord absent. Sculpture usually limited to a strong peripheral cord, situated abapically on spire whorls and at mid-height on penultimate and last whorls. Peripheral cord bearing weak to moderate nodules on upper whorls, nodulose or smooth on penultimate and last whorls. Whorl base smooth or with weak spiral cordlets. Shell base extended into moderately long, slender siphonal canal. Aperture elongate; outer lip smooth, very thin, rounded or angular at cord, with deep, U-shaped anal sinus. Shell uniformly off-white to light yellowish. Radula (based on Kantor et ai, 2018) (Fig. 5F) comprising 30-35 rows of teeth and containing marginal dúplex shoe-shaped teeth only. Major limb pointed, narrow, with sharp cutting edges. Accessory limb very narrow, constituting from 2/3 to 4/5 of tooth length.
Remarks: In addition to the usted species, there are eight putative new species, detected in the phylogenetic analyses of Zaharias et al.
(2024). The genus is readily distinguishable from other Turridae by its characteristic narrow shell with a dominant peripheral cord and a few broadly spaced nodules. Conchologically, it is similar to Pagodaturris Kantor, Fedosov & Puillandre, 2018 (Clavatulidae), which differs from Luce?apex in the attenuated and usually adapically directed tips of the nodules on the median peripheral keel, whereas in Lucerapex, they are more rounded. Additionally, there are notable differences between the two genera in the morphology of the marginal radular teeth (Kantor et al,, 2018).

Distribution: Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Gulf of Aden through the northern Indian Ocean to the Philippines, Australia, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea; depth 260 1,270 m.