Shell small, elongate-oblong, solid, spire moderately elevated, yellowish-white ; whorls 8, convex, constricted beneath the suture, spirally granulose ; granules rather large, three rows on the whorls of the spire, the lower one obsolete; base contracted, spirally ridged and produced into a short, obtuse, open canal ; aperture sub-ovate, small, nearly a third the length of the shell; posterior sinus large, deep, and rounded; peristome rather acute, slightly sinuous near the base ; columella smooth, callous, nearly vertical.
Length 6 mm.

Shell: biconic; with prominent beads; light yellow-brown. Spire: protoconch of three and one-half conical whorls, the two abapical whorls carinate; teleoconch of four whorls, slightly inflated; suture impressed, wide. Sculpture: two spirals of prominent circular beads joined by axial columns on the apical whorls, last whorl with three beaded spirals and prominent spiral cords; beads circular and spaced about their own diameter apart. Aperture: ovate; with a thick, sutural sinus; siphonal canal and columella straight. Color: apical whorls and base white, other whorls light yellow-brown.

Glyphostoma dialitha: Testa turrita, elongate, ad apicem attenuata, nilida, albescente, ad basim, atqae ad suturas, ochraceo tincta, anfractibus octo, duobus apicalibus laevibus, caeteris tumidulis, ad suturas impressis, supernis bints spiraliter gemmularum ordinibus, paenultimo et ultimo anfractu trinis succinctis, gemmulis magnis, conspicuis, ultimo apud basim productam tuberculatis, apertura oblonga, labro extus corrugato, intus obscure denticulato, margine columellari trinis denticulis munito, sinu lato, sed non profundo.
Long. 5 mm., Lat. 1.50 mm.

A pretty, small, elongate species, shining white, turreted, eight whorled, with impressed sutures, which are stained with pale ochreous colour, as is a transverse band at the base, the whorls are furnished, the upper with two, the lower with three spiral rows of large unduliferous gemmae, white, shining, mouth oblong, outer lip wrinkled without, obscurely denticulate within, sinus wide, but not deep, and extending to the outer surface of the peristome.

Length, 2.5 mm; diameter, 1 mm

Carinapex papillosa (Garrett, 1873) is similar only to Carinapex albarnesi n. sp. in which both are spindle-like. Carinapex papillosa is large sized, with orange banding, apex acute, narrow, obtaining a height of 0.3 mm, whorl profile elevated at periphery, teleoconch whorls with two equal sized, tightly spaced dash-like nodules, final two whorls with three rows. Carinapex albarnesi is very large sized, with brown banding, apex wide, first protoconch whorl flatly domed, wide slopes, obtaining a height of 0.5 mm, whorl profile low, sunken, whorls with two widely spaced, large, horizonally ovate nodule rows, sutural row less distinct, peripheral prominent. The description of Mangilia (Glyphostoma) dialitha (Melvill & Standen, 1896) appears to be synonymous with C. papillosa based on the original description and with regards to the close proximity of the type locality. Kay (1979), Cernohorsky (1983), Sysoev in Poppe (2008), Cox & others (2009) and Severns (2011) all had inadvertently lumped various new species under the name C papillosa without comparison to the known holotype of C. papillosa.

C. papillosa was described from Tahiti. It also occurs on Hawaii and in Indonesia.