Shells minute to large, elongate, turreted; spire with often some labial varices; aperture ovate; operculum paucispiral. The family is close to the Batillariidae and the Potamididae.
 

Shell minute to small, often rather tall, with, when it exists, an obsolete anterior siphonal canal.
 

Shell small, slender, with many convex or angular whorls; sculpture reticulate, made up of axial and spiral cords, nodulose at the intersections; often, presence of labial varices; suture distinct; the base of the last whorl bears 5-6 spirals, but no more radials; aperture round to oval, with a very weak posterior sinus; columella concave.
 

Shell minute, « usually pigmented, turriform. Protoconch paucispiral […], not clearly demarcated from teleoconch. Teleoconch […] with predominantly spiral sculpture, no varices or clear growth stages. Aperture rounded anteriorly, without notch or suggestion of siphonal canal. Outer lip simple, never expanded. » – S. Gofas: “Cassiella n. gen., a Cerithiacean endemic to the Strait of Gibraltar”, Basteria vol.51(4-6), p.110.
 

These are Bittiinae without anterior canal, with a round aperture in mature specimens, and with a sculpture made up of radial costae crossed by thin and marked spiral ribs; weak nodules at the intersections. Possibility of labial varices on the spire.
 

Shell small to medium-sized, with a noticeable anterior siphonal canal and a posterior notch.
 

« Shell many whorled, turreted, ranging from ovate to fusiform elongate, and sculptured with variously placed varices, axial ribs, and spiral cords ornamented with beads and nodes. Aperture ovate with crenulated outer lip, distinct anal canal and moderately extended, constricted, slightly reflected anterior siphonal canal. Operculum corneous, ovate, and paucispiral with eccentric nucleus. » – R. S. Houbrick: “ Monograph of the genus Cerithium Bruguière in the Indo-Pacific (Cerithiidae: Prosobranchia)”, Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology v.510, Washington 1992, p.4.
 

These species are « well distinguished, however, by the shell having a distinct plait on the pillar; the basal canal fully developed, and turned backwards; and by the operculum being perfectly circular. These are very elegantly marked shells: the colour is generally white; and the surface is often reticulated into little asperities, something like those on a file. » – W. Swainson: A treatise on malacology or shells and shell-fish, London 1840, p.157.