Shell size average for the genus, the known shell measures 11.9 mm in length. Slightly globose in shape, with a big spire. The spire covers more than 1/3 of the total shell length. The spire counts, 4 whorls rapidly expanding in size. These spire whorls are entirely smooth. The body whorl is very smooth, glossy but there are, seen from the dorsum, about 15 very fine shallow spiral grooves. These are not obvious but discrete. These spiral groves are concentrated on the lower half of the shell. The aperture is large and covers slightly more than half of the shell length. The outer lip is thin, fragile and has a crenulate edge on the lower part. The columella is thickened, pure white in color and there is no umbilicus. The lower part of the aperture is slightly turned to the left. The overall color of the shell is white with, on the body whorl, a light shade of yellowish set in two zones: one just below the last suture and one on the back of the lower part of the body whorl.

This species is in fact easy to distinguish with the particular characteristics, from all other Japonactaeon known from the Philippines. For the sake of completeness, we here compare it with the type of the genus: Japonactaeon suturalis (A. Adams, 1855).
The two can be separated immediately based on the color pattern. J. suturalis is entirely covered with large greenish-black flecks on a cream background. J. daanbantayanensis n. sp. has no pattern. The outline of both shells is different: J. suturalis is slender and elongate, J. daanbantayanensis n. sp. is more convex and much wider. The spiral grooves are more pronounced in J. suturalis.

KNOWN MATERIAL AND LOCALITIES
Known only from the holotype, now housed in HMNS, Houston, USA in the G.T. Poppe collection.
TYPE MATERIAL
Holotype 11.9 mm. (523455). Coll. HMNS, USA. TYPE LOCALITY
Philippines. North Cebu. Daanbantayan. In front of Maya. 10-28 m deep. Guphil I. The shell was dived about 2 km offshore on sandy bottoms with sparse coral patches in between.

Named after the type locality: the "Daanbantayan". Daanbantayan is in fact a separate Island, but it is very close to mainland Cebu and separated from it by a small channel, just north of Bogo, on Cebu Island. Cebuanos consider it a part of "Cebu". The most important city of the Daanbantayan is Medellin, but Maya, where Guphil I often docked, has a small harbor, mainly for boats linking further away Malapascua Island to Cebu.