Shell small, shape broad with short, conical spire, base broad. Colour usually yellowish, orange or brown with fine or broad spiral lines or dots on top of the spiral sculpture.
Protoconch small, consisting of 1,25 to 2 whorls. Transition to teleoconch indistinct or marked by fine line followed by teleoconch sculpture. Teleoconch consisting of 4 to 5,75 whorls, upper spire whorls weakly flattened. Axial sculpture dominant. All spire whorls with 3 or 4 rather broad spiral cords with smooth top; interspaces moderately narrow along apex, gradually growing broader along later whorls. Secondary spiral cords absent or obscure along spire whorls but present in interspaces along last whorl. Aperture narrow, adapical part semi-oval, columella running parallel with outer lip, abapical part growing narrower. Obscure internal lirae present inside the outer lip, running from behind outer lip to far inside aperture. Columella gently curved, usually with 2 to 4 columellar folds or knobs, callus rather narrow. Parietal smooth, callus narrow, parietal knob weak or obscure, parietal denticle absent or obscure. Anal notch weak, anal knob big, without denticle. Outer lip thick; edge sharp, glossy; anal knob separated by moderately broad adapical notch from 3 or 4, rarely 5, internal knobs. Adapical columellar knob situated in front of adapical knob at outer lip. Siphonal canal short, broad, open, bended towards dorsal side.

Speccapollia gen. nov. is characterized by the small protoconch consisting of 1,25 to 2 whorls, by the absence of a parietal knob in combination with the absence of a broad columellar and parietal callus, by the low number of knobs on both the columella and outer lip, knobs of which the adapical ones are situated in front of each other, by the presence of obscure internal lirae inside the outer lip, the spiral sculpture consisting of a moderately big primary spiral cords with rather broad interspaces with secondary spiral cords absent on the spire whorls but present on the last whorl. Species of Clivipollia differ from species of Speccapollia gen. nov. in having a larger and papilliform protoconch consisting of 3 or 4 whorls, a more triangular shaped aperture, a rather narrow anal notch with a rather well developped anal knob that is situated more adapically inside of the aperture, an usually larger number of apertural knobs both on the columella and inside of the outer lip, a columellar knobs situated more adapically than the knobs inside of the outer lip, a narrow parietal callus, a sculpture that consists of broader spiral cords with narrower adapical spiral interspace and a larger adult size.
Species of Falsilatirus differ from species of Speccapollia gen. nov. in having a broader, more triangular shaped aperture with curved sides, a broader anal notch without parietal or anal denticle, a columellar knobs situated more abapically than the knobs inside of the outer lip, a narrow parietal callus, a sharper spiral sculpture and a much larger adult size. "Engina" astricta (Reeve, 1846) differs from Speccapollia gen. nov. in having broader spiral interspaces and a more Engina-slike aperture usually with a parietal knob in well adult specimens and a callus with radially orientated lirae. For a brief discussion about the generic placement of this species we refer to the comparison under Clivipollia. Species belonging to Engina differ from Speccapollia gen. nov. in having a broad columellar callus running along the whole columella and parietal to the adapical part of the aperture, sculptured with radially orientated lirae that are usually well distinct in typical specimens; in having a distinct, usually equally sized, parietal and anal denticle forming a deep and narrow anal notch; a larger number of knobs on both columella and outer lip, with a narrower adapical notch inside the outer lip and in having spiral cords consisting of several sharp spiral keels rather than consisting of a single big cord with smooth, rounded top.
Virtually all typical Engina species have a sharp parietal knob forming a well defined anal notch. The type species, Engina turbinella, however, has a moderately small similar parietal denticle that is usually absent in not fully adult specimens. The radially orientated lirae are present on the parietal callus of most Engina species, but not all (Landau & Vermeij, 2012: 122), and are occasionally found in specimens of Speccapollia recurva. Many Pacific species belonging, or assigned, to Engina or Enzinopsis differ in the multispiral, rather papilliform protoconch; the usually slender shape with higher spire; the presence of a number of lirae on the parietal part of the columella in fully adult specimens; the usually narrow anal notch bordered by moderately develloped knobs and the narrower adapical notch inside the outer lip.
Species of Pollia Gray in Sowerby, 1834 (type species: Buccinum undosum Linnaeus, 1758) belong to the Cantharus group and are characterized by the presence of internal lirae inside the outer lip (Vermeij, 2006: 72, 85). The inside of the outer lip in Clivipollia is almost always smooth and glossy (see remarks under Clivipollia for a few exceptions). Also Speccapollia gen. nov. has fine traces of internal lirae inside the outer lip, but those are much finer than in Pollia and obscure.