Shell imperforate, solid, with a thick epidermis, spirally silicate, conical; spire sharp; aperture oval, notched at the base; lip thick, ridged within; columellar border with a ridge or tubercle above; operculum oval, paucispiral, the nucleus nearly terminal.

Shell imperforate, oval-conic, solid, with epidermis, and elevated spire, usually spirally sulcate ; columella callous, flattened, truncate at base, with a narrow sinus ; interior of aperture ridged, base notched ; operculum paucispiral, with a nearly terminal nucleus.
Amphibious, crawling on stones near the margins of pools left by the retiring tide, or adhering to mangrove-roots.
About fifty species are known, tropical or subtropical.
Fossil in the Pliocene of the West Indies.