Shell medium-sized for the genus, to 70 mm. Elongate and fusiform. Aperture roundly ovate. Columellar lip adherent, briefly detached anteriorly, smooth. Anal notch small and shallow. Outer apertural lip slightly denticulate, briefly striate interiorly. Spire high, consisting of two rounded, smooth nuclear whorls and nine elongate post-nuclear whorls. Suture impressed. Body whorl bearing three low rounded varices. Terminal varix ventrally squamous, anteriorly ornamented with a varical flange extending on the siphonal canal. Other axial sculpture consisting of three to five low ridges crossed by twelve to fifteen spiral cords, each flanked by fine spiral threads.
Varices of spire whorls sometimes bearing small carinal open spines. Siphonal canal short and broad, narrowly open and slightly bent backwards. Color cream to light brown with darker spiral bands. Axial ribs also darker colored. Aperture white.

Shell up to 78 mm in length, with rounded protoconch of 1.5-2 whorls and weakly convex teleoconch whorls. Axial sculpture of last teleoconch whorl consisting of 3 narrow, high, rounded, nodose varices. Other axial sculpture of 3-5 strong, narrow, low or moderately high, intervarical ridges. Spiral sculpture of strong, narrow, low, primary, secondary and tertiary cords. Spiral sculpture of subsutural ramp of last whorl with adis, IP, (abis) followed by PI, si, P2, s2, P3, t, s3, t, P4, s4, P5, P6, t, s6, ADP, MP, ABP, (abs) on convex part of shell and siphonal canal.
Aperture ovate or broadly ovate. Columellar lip smooth. Outer lip denticulate, with narrow, elongate denticles within. Siphonal canal short, broad, weakly dorsally bent, with 3 or 4 squamous spines. Cream, light or dark brown with darker, narrow spiral bands, most obvious on axial varices. Axial ridges with dark brown blotches. Ventral side of siphonal canal lighter coloured. Aperture white.

In a recent monograph I showed the differences between various species, but like everyone else, I made no distinction between the typical N. triquiter and this form from the Western Indian. Dr Vokes drew my attention to the different protoconchs (one illustrated in my article, the other from a specimen in her collection, now paratype I.R.S.N.B.). Differences between both forms are minimal but the observation of very different nuclear whorls makes it evident that the Indian form N. vokesae constitutes a distinct (sub)species. I prefer to treat it as a subspecies rather than a species, as the differences are minimal, except on larval whorls.
In addition to the protoconch (paucispiral for N.vokesae; conical, multispiral with a fine carina for N.triquiter), the new (sub)species has a more convex outline; its axial sculpture is shallower and consists of more numerous and lower cords on the spire whorls. Spiral sculpture is weaker.

Type locality. Northern Mozambique, southeast Nacala Bay, 9 m.
Distribution. Indo-W. Pac. (IP). South Africa, N Zululand and Natal; Mozambique; Madagascar; Comoros Is; Tanzania and S Zanzibar in the western Indian Ocean and probably the Philippines, in the Pacific Ocean.