Shell small, ovate-acuminate, up to 13 mm in length, width 49-53% of shell length, spire side lines concave, base contracted and recurved, sutures dis-tinctly impressed. Protoconch truncate-conoidal, involute-paucispiral, with 2.5 glossy, rounded, yellowish-brown coloured embryonic whorls. Teleoconch with 6-7 whorls; spire whorls flat-sided and only slightly angulate at the sutures, each spire whorl with 3 spiral cords and grooves, on the first post-nuclear spire whorl spiral cords gemmately sculptured like strings of pearls, on all later whorls the spiral cords have smooth ridges, the spiral grooves in interspaces are V-shaped in cross-section and axially striate; body whorl with 11 spiral cords, apart from the siphonal fasciole consisting of 5-6 densely arranged oblique cords. Aperture longer than the spire (aperture length 53-63% of total shell length), very narrow, additionally narrowed by the thickened outer lip which protrudes into the aperture by 5-6 strong teeth particularly in the pos-terior third; inner lip with thickened rounded edge at the anterior two thirds of the aperture. Columella with 3-4 oblique folds which decrease strongly in size anteriorly; siphonal notch deep, siphonal canal short but strongly recurved. Uniformly tan to yellowish-brown in colour, columella and strong teeth of outer lip slightly lighter coloured. Periostracum thin and light-brown.

M. {Nebularia) silviae n. sp. is certainly most closely related to M. (Nebularia) turgida Reeve, 1845, which is widely distributed in the tropical Indo-Pacific and lives compatriotic with M. silviae at the Maldive Islands, in
Indonesia and Malaysia. Shell morphology of the two species differs in several characters as follows:
1) Body whorl circumference not interrupted by axial folds (such folds are typical for M. turgida);
2) protoconch truncate-conoidal-involute with 2.0 to 2.5 embryonic whorls yellowish-brown in colour (not conoidal-multispiral with 3+ glassy-white embryonic whorls as in M. turgida);
3) only the first post-nuclear spire whorl is gemmately sculptured by spiral cords like strings of pearls (whereas in M. turgida three post-nuclear whorls are sculptured in this way);
4) further spire whorls with strictly only 3 regular spiral cords (in M. turgida with up to 4, rarely even 5, spiral cords);
5) spiral grooves V-shaped in cross-section (in M. turgida U-shaped);
6) siphonal canal long and strongly recurved (in M. turgida short and only slightly recurved);
7) aperture narrowed by thickened and bended outer lip protruding with strong teeth especially in the posterior part (in M. turgida not narrowed in this way).

Type Locality:
North Male Atoll, Maldive Islands.
Distribution and habitat:
Known from the Maldive Islands, Malaysia and Indonesia. Subtidal, freshly dead at 3 m depth of water on a coral rubble bottom. Dead and faded white specimens also found at greater depth (to 70 m) in sand of cave, amongst coral rubble, and subrecent in sediment. [This new species ranges certainly wider than hitherto known. As it can be confused with M. {Nebularia) turgida Reeve, 1845, it may be detected in collections under that name.]