Shell of average size for the genus, coniform. Protoconch multispiral: consisting of approximately 2.5 whorls. Teleoconch of only about 4 whorls, rapidly increasing in size and volume. Suture gradually sloping and slightly incised, giving a slightly scalariform aspect to the spire. Shoulder of final whorl indistinct, rounded. Axial sculpture absent. Spiral sculpture very limited: some very fine spiral threads can be discerned on the final whorl. Most salient aspect to the spiral sculpture is the rather broad, shallow groove running along the final whorl from about mid-columellar height to about 1/3 of the lip's height. The ventrum shows 3-4 further much finer shallow grooves in between this salient groove and the columellar plait. Columella with a narrow, yet strongly thickened callus, especially on adapical half, yet not reaching the outer lip: it ends somewhat south of the lip's edge, leaving a small, triangular-shaped area of the upper columella without callus. Shape of aperture elongately oval. Lip simple, not thickened; lower lip slightly extending beyond the siphonal canal. Siphonal canal wide, very short, open. Overall colour pale pinkish to ochre. Periostracum brownish orange.Operculum elongately oval, slightly larger than aperture, pale brown. Type material: Holotype: 38.9 x 21.8 mm. In Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. MNHN-IM-2000-38562. East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

P. aikeni sp. nov. stands out from P. crassa by its more elongate, slenderer, less bulbous general shape, its higher spire and the presence of a weak, rounded shoulder. Moreover, P. crassa is a West-African species, whereas P. aikeni sp. nov. only occurs along the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

P. sepimenta differs from the newly described species in being much smaller, having a thinner, more fragile shell, a fasciole that extends well beyond the lowest tip of the outer lip, much more rounded spire whorls whose sutures are slightly incised and its completely different range: P. sepimenta is a West-African species.

In fact, P. aikeni sp. nov. can only be confused with P. ancilla as both species occur along the coasts of the Eastern Cape province. Yet. the new species stands out from P. ancilla by its more robust and more coniform general appearance, mainly caused by its much shorter spire and the shorter, more bulbous, less elongate shape of the final whorl. P. aikeni sp. nov. also stands out by a less strongly incised suture, a shallower and narrower groove on the final whorl and a straight area between the shoulder and the suture of the last whorl, whereas this area is concave in P. ancilla.

Type locality: East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Distribution: The live-taken holotype was trawled off East London, but the species has been found beached elsewhere in the Eastern Cape.