Range: Restricted to the coast of Natal, South Africa. A slight polytypism can be pointed out (Kilburn, 1993): In Durban-Sheffield beach area, shells are rather squat with a strong shoulder, often stained by a rusty deposit. Northward in the Park Rynie area, shells tend to be slender, paler with a more blotchy pattern.
Habitat: Between 75 m and 100 m deep on a muddy sand bottom.

Description: Shell of small size (45-55 mm long), solid with a shiny surface, ovate fusiform. Spire turreted, moderately high. Protoconch small, bulbous of two and a half whorls. Teleoconch of 4-5 slighty convex whorls, heavily sculptured by 12-14 strong axial ribs very prominent on the shoulders, extended over the whole spire and over the entire body whorl becoming attenuted towards the anterior extremity. Suture channeled on the three early whorls, coronated by the posterior projections of the ribs, then becoming deeply indented on the last whorls. The entire teleoconch overlaid by faint spiral close spaced striae. Aperture narrow with a thick outer lip. Columella straight with 5-6 solid plaits and a posterior cluster of 2-3 very obscure teeth followed by a raised white callus at its posterior end. Background colour light beige with a pattern of three red-orange discontinued revolving bands: subsutural, on the mid body whorl and anterior forming axial flames. Animal: Animal is colourful, flecked with red-orange on a cream ground.

Comparison: It must be compared with its Mozambican relative, the following species described here, which differs by its impressed suture after the third whorl, the nodulose ribs hardly reaching the suture, and by a quite different spiral pattern of two or more uninterrupted red bands. Remarks: Due to the scarcity of commercial trawling in the area, this rather deep water species remains very rare, mainly taken ex pisce or "ex Xenophora " and found in rather bad condition. Most of so-called queketti in collections belong to the following species.

As Lyria queketti
Holotype, British Museum (Natural History), London, No. 1901.9.13.17. TYPE LOCALITY: About 10 miles off Durban, Natal, South Africa. RANGE: From Durban northward 175 miles to Zululand, South Africa. HABITAT: Taken either by dredging in 160 to 180 fathoms or from the stomachs of fishes in 40 to 90 fathoms. DIMENSIONS: Adult specimens are 41 to 55 mm in length. SHELL DESCRIPTION: Shell is of medium size. It is solid and ovate-fusiform, with a moderately high, turreted spire, blunt at the apex. Protoconch is bulbous and horn colored, of two and a half smooth whorls. The second whorl is 2 mm in diameter. Teleoconch has four and a half to five strongly shouldered, heavily sculptured whorls with a deeply in dented suture. The suture is channeled on the early whorls. Sculpture consists of sharp axial ribs, 19 to 21 on the first whorl, decreasing to about 10 on the adult body whorl. The posterior portions of the ribs form points projecting above the suture, giving the early whorls a coronated appearance. Numerous closely spaced revolving striae cover the entire shell. These are especially pronounced at the top of the early whorl ribs and become more widely spaced anteriorly. Aperture is narrow and oblong; outer lip is thickened both inside and outside with a beveled edge. The interior is a pale-rose color. Siphonal notch is narrow and deep; fasciole present. The columella is obliquely straight, with five to seven sharply angled anterior plaits, the first three being the strongest. A thick, raised, white callus appears at the posterior end of the white columella. Color of the shell is variable (see banded form. Typically, the base color is pale flesh, almost obscured by wide bands of reddish-brown. Rust-red spots appear at the posterior end of the ribs and on the shoulders of the last two whorls. A horny operculum is present (see Figure 4e). ANIMAL AND RADULA: According to Cooke (1922), the radular ribbon is uniserial, consisting of 41 teeth . Other anatomical features are unknown. REMARKS: In appearance, this species seems to stand apart from all others in the genus. The few known specimens were collected from the stomachs of fishes or from the dorsum of the carrier shell Xenophora by dredging. The species was named for Mr. Quekett, the former curator of the Durban Museum, Natal, South Africa.