Diagnosis: Shell medium-sized (31 mm), b/1 0.30-0,34. a/1 0,34-0,38, whorls with a rounded shoulder, siphonal canal moderately long, tip obliquely truncate, with a shallow to fairly deep notch; aperture fairly narrow, fasciole feeble to absent, labrum weakly crenulale in side-view, stromboid notch well developed, anal sinus openly U-shaped, directed slightly adapically, parietal nodule moderately small, rounded, situated below posterior angle of aperture; no subsutural cord nor distinct shoulder sulcus; axial ribs moderately strong, strongly opisthocline, terminating more or less abruptly at shoulder. 9-12 on penultimate whorl, bearing weak, transverse nodules where crossed by spiral cords, which in rib intervals are weak and narrow. 4-6 spirals below shoulder on penultimate whorl; surface covered in microspiral striae and pliculate growth-threads; a single varix just behind lip. Mottled light brown, flecked with brownish-orange (particulaly at periphery and below suture), peripheral nodules pale. Protoconch conical, of about 3,5 whorls, breadth 0,88-0,93 mm.
Description: Shell claviform (b/1 0,30-0,34, a/l 0,34-0,38), with moderately long, tapering, somewhat obliquely truncate, siphonal rostrum, bent slightly to right, and moderately narrow aperture, suture fairly shallow; teleoconch whorls about 9; whorls convex, periphery median on early whorls, later whorls with periphery about 1/3 whorl below suture, with terminations of axial ribs forming a weak, rounded shoulder; shoulder slope gently concave, without a subsutural cord or distinct sulcus; sides of base of body whorl concave, fasciole usually absent, occasionally weakly developed, with a slight false umbilicus. Aperture narrowly pyriform with greatest width at about posterior third, siphonal canal wide, expanding slightly towards end. its termination very shallowly to moderately deeply notched; labial callus thick, its outer edge slightly free on columella, forming a relatively small, rounded but somewhat laterally compressed parietal nodule just below posterior angle of aperture, and slightly constricting anal sinus; columella almost straight; labrum thin, smooth inside, edge weakly crenulate, angular but scarcely alate at lower border of anal sinus, stromboid notch very slight; anal sinus deep, openly U-shaped, its opening tilted slightly adapically.
Sculptured by moderately strong axial ribs, crossed by relatively weak spiral lirae; entire surface covered by dense, microscopic spiral threads, which are interrupted by dense, raised growth-striae; a single varicoid rib just behind lip. Axial ribs sulure-to-suture (and often somewhat continuous) on first 4-5 teleoconch whorls, thereafter weakening below suture, and on last three whorls evanesce fairly abruptly on shoulder slope; on body whorl ribs usually obsolete by parietal level, occasionally continuing onto base; in some examples axial ribs become weak on body whorl, where they are represented by peripheral nodules; ribs strongly opisthocline (less so on early whorls), crests rounded in section, sometimes sharply so, with fairly gently sloping sides; more or less equal to intervals; 8-10 ribs on 1st whorl, 9-12 on penultimate one. Spiral lirae forming 6-7 very weak threads on 1st whorl; on penultimate whorl 4-6 widely-spaced main lirae below shoulder, generally low, but stronger on ribs, where they may form 2-4 small peripheral nodules; on base of body whorl lirae varying so greatly in strength (some lirae being little stronger than the microsculpturc) that they cannot be counted.
Colour: light brown, ribs usually spotted with brownish-orange at shoulder and on back of body whorl, suture bordered by a line of dots of that colour; peripheral spirals white where they cross axials; protoconch brownish-orange to white.
Protoconch (Fig. 25) conical, of about 3,5 convex, vitreous whorls, first whorl small and tilted, smooth except for a few close, arcuate axial plicules at termination, breadth 0,88-0,93 mm, height 0,95-1,05 mm (b/h 0,89-0,98).
Dimensions: 31,1 x 9,8 mm (largest adult), 21,2 x 6,6 mm (smallest apparent adult).
Operculum oblanceolate, nucleus anterior, sharp, growth-lines coarse; [near] pale orange-yellow, translucent.
Radula of about 18 rows of marginals, shaft moderately long.

F. laterculoides is a fairly common species on the Natal shelf, and occurs mainly on substrata of coarse sand and rubble, except at the extreme southern end of its range, where it is found on thick black mud. F. laterculoides is somewhat similar to the tropical Inquisitor (or more probably Funa) flavidulus (Lamarck, 1822). Judging by NM examples from Queensland, the Philippines and elsewhere, flavidulus attains a much larger size (at least 60 mm), has a slightly larger protoconch (breadth 1,0 mm, instead of 0,9 mm), stronger spiral threads on the shoulder slope, a stronger alate expansion to the lip below the anal sinus, and a siphonal rostrum that is slightly longer and distinctly recurved dorsally. Inquisitor nudivaricosus Kuroda & Oyama of Japan may prove to be a synonym of laterculoides.

South-Africa. Outer continental shelf from southern Zululand to eastern Transkei, 50-200 m.