Eastern Australian shells solid, spire straight sided or convex, turreted, whorls rounded; aperture less than half shell length. Axial sculpture absent; spiral sculpture restricted to about 10 strong cords on base of body whorl. Outer lip of aperture sinuous with wide, shallow sinus posteriorly; thickened externally, and in the centre internally, with up to 10 denticles. Columella sharp-edged in mature shells, with 3-7 denticles. Anterior canal not upturned, siphonal notch shallow. Colour variable; generally fawn, usually with white spots; often a dark brown band below suture and widely-spaced large white spots below.
Size: Eastern Australian shells up to 24 mm in length.

Though the shell closely resembles P. testudinaria , this differs from the latter species in the following characters. The body whorl tapers more sharply toward the anterior end ; large, white blotches are seen on the surface ; the epiderm is somewhat thinner; the operculum hears brown spots; and, the inside of aperture is colored in light purple. Distribution: south of Honshu, below the tide line.

P. punctata is about the same size and also variable in colour. In P. punctata the spire is strongly convex, while in P. flava it is straight or moderately convex.

Tropical Indo-West Pacific. In Australia, North West Cape, WA, around northern Australia to Yamba, NSW.
Habitat: Most NSW specimens are beach collected empty shells. Uncommon.