Shells minute to small, usually smooth and glossy, imperforate (Entoconcha and Umbilibalcis excepted); columella devoid of folds; sculpture, if present, only spiral. « It is impossible to give a brief definition of a group that is so variable ans incompletely known as the family Eulimidae. A family is a unit based on a number of genera which are more related to each other than to other genera and every new genus tends to strain the limits. I have therefore restricted myself to giving a number of details partly shared by the genera known to me. […] Shell: usually present. Colourless or brownish yellowish with brownish or yellowish markings. Often there are one or several scars from earlier positions of the outer lip […]. The shape of the shell is most variable. Siphonal canal absent. » – A. Warén: “A Generic Revision of the Family Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia)”, Journal of Molluscan Studies vol.49 suppl.13, Oxford 1983, p.2.
 

Shell turritelliform, with rounded whorls, a marked suture, and in many species a spiral sculpture that varies in strength, ranging from obsolete striae to carinate ribs and shoulders.
 

Shell minute, slender, slightly curved, with a thickened lip. Possibly a subgenus of Eulima Risso.
 

The genus is characterized by a bulbous protoconch, moderately convex whorls separated by a marked suture, and chiefly by a set of slightly sinuous labial varices; aperture constricted adapically, round anteriorly.
 

« Eulimids parasitic on crinoids. Shell straight, conical, transparent, with a small aperture. Incremental scars distinct, not regularly disposed. Aperture with very straight (front view) outer lip, evenly arched columellar-parietal wall. » – Bouchet & Warén: “Revision of the northeast Atlantic bathyal and abyssal Aclididae, Eulimidae, Epitoniidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda)”, Bollettino malacologico suppl.2, Milano 1986, p.397. In fact, the curvature of the shell is as variable as in Vitreolina Monterosato. The labial margin is even straighter than in Curveulima Laseron, and the anterior lip less rounded.
 

Shell partially similar to the one in Vitreolina (slender, with a colourless apex, a curved or twisted spire) but with incremental lines scattered over the spire instead of forming a line as in Vitreolina (cf. Bouchet & Warén: “Revision of the northeast Atlantic bathyal and abyssal Aclididae, Eulimidae, Epitoniidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda)”, Bollettino malacologico suppl.2, Milano 1986, p.315-316.
 

The genus is monospecific. Shell present only during larval stage, minute, ovoid, smooth, of about one whorl increasing rapidly; aperture half moon-shaped, angular posteriorly, round anteriorly; labial margin erect; columella straight cf. J. Müller’s diagnose in Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Koniglichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin aus dem Jahre 1852, p.206-207.
 

There are two species only, one in the caribbean area, one in Mediterranean. « In proposing this generic division, I am supported by the opinion of various authors, who seem inclined to believe that my species cannot be part of any of the known genera; and I am completely reassured that my shell is not the youthful state of any other. Ersilia is not an expressive or mythological name, but it is a name like any other. The characters of the genus are those of the species. » – T. A. di Monterosato: Notizie intorno alle conchiglie mediterranee, Palermo 1872, p.33.
 

Shell tall, slender, « usually marked with brownish bands on a lighter background. The sutures are very indistinct. The aperture is very high and slender. The outer lip is almost perfectly straight in typical species. » – A. Warén: op. cit p.43. Numerous labial scars here and there along the spire.
 

« Melanellids in which the inner lip is provided with a twist which gives it the appearance of having an obsolete fold. » – P. Bartsch: “A Monograph on West American Melanellids Molluscs”, Proceedings of the National Museum vol. 53, Washington 1917, p.336. Shell slender, high-spired, with a very long and narrow aperture.
 

Shell translucent, acute, close to Eulima Risso but smaller and less styliform (Laseron, about the synonymized Eulimitra), with the false suture lines on the right side only (Pilsbry); presence of coloured bands on the teleoconch. – See C. F. Laseron: “Revision of the New South Wales eulimoid shells”, The Australian Zoologist vol. 12(2), Sydney 1955, p.94.
 

Shell minute to small, white, smooth, glossy, semitranslucent, often tall and slender, without marked sutures; it can be curved near the apex, or straight along the whole spire; whorls flat to slightly convex; the last one, which, at adult stage, takes about a third of the total shell height, can bear a slightly convex outer lip; aperture tear-drop shaped, sharply angular at the top, round at the base; columella oblique. Many labial scars along the spire.
 

Shell minute, conical, « unusually broad », with shallow sutures; whorls slightly convex bearing some labial scars here and there; the spire can be a little twisted near the apex; aperture tear-drop shaped like in Melanella Risso, with the outer lip more convex. False suture often very visible. Parasite of sea-urchins.
 

« The shell is characterized by the small aperture with a rather straight outer lip. The operculum often has a fold, which is inserted in the foot. » – A. Warén: op. cit p.62. Parasite of sea-stars.
 

« This genus is close to the genus Mucronalia, and, as in this one, the animal is provided with a porcellaneous shell with low spire. The last three whorls are well developed but it is chiefly the last one which reaches the greatest development, and it alone constitutes the largest part of the shell. » – Koehler & Vaney: “Description d’un nouveau genre de Prosobranches parasite sur certains Echinides”, Bulletin de l’Institut Océanographique de Monaco vol.118, Monaco 1908, p.3.
 

« The species of Sabinella may be recognized by the pointed, conical shell with a big, angular aperture. There are several very strong scars from the outer lip, and the shell before and after the scars form a distinct angle. » – A. Warén: op. cit p.71.
 

« Shell sub-porcellanous, translucent, form like Curveulima with a bent spire, but of irregular growth and irregularly spotted with chestnut. Inner margin strongly reflected and a layer of callus on the body whorl. » – C. F. Laseron: “Revision of the New South Wales eulimoid shells”, The Australian Zoologist vol.12(2) p.91. A. Warén notes: « The type species deviates from most species I include in Sticteulima, by its rather large size and distorted shell. Most species are 2-4mm high, slender, marked with groups of small brown spots or colourless, and have a larval shell of 2-3 white, high and rather flat whorls. » (op. cit. p.72).
 

« The shell may be recognized by being slightly to strongly curved, oval in cross section, completely transparent, and by the suture which makes distinct dips at the scars. » – A. Warén: op. cit. p.84. About these dips, E. Campani explains: « The false suture deviates downward before the scar, presenting a depression, to curve upward again after the scar. » – E. Campani: “Eulimidae Mediterranee”, Documenti del Gruppo Malacologico Livornese, 2001. Also, the labial scars form a line along the spire, which may help to distinguish this genus from Curveulima.