Described in French (click French flag)

Mitrella loyaltyensis is a small species with a highly varied colour pattern, which has led to many synonyms, as reported by Drivas & Jay (1990). The shells typically have a ring of opaque white spots at the suture, and a thickened aperture edge with an indentation behind it. The single specimen collected by the expedition is similar to this species. However, rather than being patterned, the shell in this specimen is white with just a vague patching of brown on the body whorl. It also has fewer protoconch whorls; whereas typical M. loyaltyensis have 3.5 to 4 protoconch whorls, this specimen has only 3.25. The protoconch is smooth and white. The shell is 4.8 mm long with 4.5 teleoconch whorls. The specimen was in the mixed material so its habitat can not be known with certainty.

Shell small, fusiformly elongate, strongly contracted towards the base. Protoconch: conical, of about four to four and a half smooth whorls; protoconch clearly demarcated from teleoconch by a deep sinus. Teleoconch: of about four to four and a half fiat sided to weakly convex whorls; suture shallow; whorls smooth, apart from about 8 oblique cords on the shell base; last whorl strongly angulate. Aperture: narrow, peristome continuous; outer lip with a thick, broad varix; inside with 6 to 8 denticles; posterior sinus wide and moderately deep; anterior canal short, narrow and weakly twisted dorsally. Colour protoconch opaque white; teleoconch with a subsutural spiral band and with irregular opaque white axial markings below the transparent zone; one spiral row of semicircular opaque markings just above the suture. Radula: each radular row consisting of a subrectangular median tooth, flanked at each side by one tricuspid lateral tooth; two uppermost cusps of the latter sharp, the lowest one blunt.

Kingsmill Islands (type-locality of Columbella pusilla), Hawaii (Kay, 1979), New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea.