Often confused with Monterosato’s Alvania subareolata, from which it differs morphologically by many characteristics: axial ribs stronger and fewer, strictly orthocline and not slightly sinuous; spiral cords 2 or rarely 3 instead of always 3 in subareolata; the crossings are markedly tuberculate, giving the whorls a keeled appearance; the microsculpture also is much thinner. The protoconch is adorned with numerous microgranules that tend to be arranged in six rows, especially near the transition with the teleoconch, while these granules are randomly scattered in subareolata.