The shell is moderately large (maximum length 100 mm) and fusiform. Its spire is high, consisting of one and three-quarter nuclear whorls and seven or eight shouldered postnuclcar whorls. The suture is impressed. The body whorl is large and fusoid. The aperture is small and subcircular. with a shallow, inverted-V-shaped anal notch, this delimited by a small, strong callus on its parietal side. The outer apertural lip is barely erect beyond the varix and is composed of two parts: a shorter, finely crenulate portion between the suture and the shoulder, and a much longer, more coarsely dentate portion making up the remainder of the lip. The cohunellar lip is slightly detached and flaring anteriorly, and adherent posteriorly. The siphonal canal is moderately long and broad, narrowly medially open, and distally recurved.
The body whorl carries the three varices typical of Chicoreus. Other axial sculpture consists of one to three tubercles at the shoulder in each intervarical space. Spiral sculpture consists of numerous major and minor scabrous cords and finer threads. Where the major cords intersect the varices, they are developed into prominent distally foliated spines. The shoulder region is essentially devoid of spines. The longest spine, at the shoulder margin, is followed anteriorly by a much shorter, ventrally bent spine. Below this spine on the body are three recurved spines of approximately equal length and spacing. Another short, ventrally bent spine follows, below which is a spineless gap characteristic of this species. Below the gap, on the canal, a single recurved spine is followed by two straight, longer spines. Tiny, ventrally bent spinelets are intercalated with major spines in the body region.
The shell is tan to black, the aperture white.

55mm. Solid, dull, fusiform, high spired. Columellar lip slightly detached. Siphonal canal recurved, almost closed. 3 varices with short, crowded, frondose spines. Coarse spiral ridges encircle whorls. Outer lip wrinkled. Shades of brown, varices and spines darker, aperture
white. A single shell from Musandam, found by Martyn Day. Habitat: beached. Distribution: GO.

This typical form is found primarily on the eastern African coast. In Queensland, eastern Australia, a more slender, attenuated form with much longer spines is prevalent This is the form figured by Reeve (1845) as M. axicornis var. b. C, banksii may be distinguished from that species by its larger size, more numerous spines, more prominent spineless gap, and much less recurved spines. In western Australia this species has not been correctly identified because of its more compressed appearance — the spines are so densely crowded that all traces of the spineless gap have vanished and the spines in this region actually cross each other. All other features are readily recognizable as those of C. banksii.

Mozambique and Zanzibar to the west coast of Australia, the Sulu Sea, and Queensland, eastern Australia.