Shell tall and slender cone. Cyrtoconoid spire tapering to blunt point. Suture wide, channelled, running about 75 to shell's main axis. Whorls slightly convex. Sculpture consisting of strong axial ridges, fairly smooth in outline, and wide circular grooves, covering ridges and interspaces alike. Interspaces about twice as wide as ridges. Number of visible grooves increases with the order of whorls. On second whorl, there are 4-5 visible grooves, 6-7 on the fifth and 7-8 on the sixth. Sculpture continuing down the base of shell. Growth lines clear Protoconch of type B tending to type C, with greatest diameter 350 µm Protoconch I has diameter 95 µm. Protoconch 2 running for about 300 µm. Aperture, diamond-shaped. Outer lip beginning below periphery of preceding whorl, curving back toward apex before abruptly starling towards base. Initially following the shell's general outline, closer to columella forming smooth semicircle. On inside of outer lip sometimes 5-6 riblets present, similar to Megastomia. Columella convex with prominent fold. Thin parietal callus and narrow umbilical fissure. Dimensions: Holotype with 6 teleoconch whorls, height 4.5 mm. Type locality: Ivory Coast. Region of Abidjan, 20 m.

Chrysallida ersei n. sp. shows superficial similarity to Turbonilla (Pyrgiscus) tefunta Bartsch. 1915. from South Africa, but in T. tefunta the spiral sculpture is more marked, and the species is larger. The protoconch is also of type A which clearly distinguishes it from all species of Chrysallida.
Pyramidella (Actaeopyramis) noma Bartsch, 1915 from South Africa shows some similarity to C. ersei, but in this species the spiral sculpture is more dominant than the longitudinal and the whorls are more convex.
Among the West African Pyramidellidae C. ersei could possible be confused with Pyrgulina approximans Dautzenberg, 1913) but the whorls of this species is are distinctly more convex.
Juvenile specimens of C. ersei could might be confused with Pyrgulina obesa but the sculpture is stronger, the protoconch larger and the apical angle greater in this species compared to C. ersei.