« Shell small, solid, ovate-conic. […] Protoconch paucispiral, slightly globose, shiny […] Teleoconch of 3.7-4.8 barely convex whorls, suture deep and canaliculated. Axial sculpture of 9-12+v strong orthocline ribs, as wide as the interspaces, interrupted at the periphery, in correspondence with the sutural cordlet. Spiral sculpture starting with 2 (ii, iv) weak cordlets. Last whorl with 8-10 spirals; the adapical 4 above the aperture, equidistant and as wide as the interspaces, the basal 4-6 (including the sutural one) finer and more spaced; fourth adapical cordlet more pronounced. Rounded tubercles at the intersections. Microsculpture absent. Umbilical chink barely visible. Outer lip thickened by a broad and robust varix, with 7-8 internal elongate denticles. » – Amati & al: “Notes on some taxa of the Alvania lineata-complex with the descriptions of three new species from the Mediterranean Sea (Gastropoda: Rissoidae)», Iberus vol.37(1), Barcelona 2019, p.100-106.

« Colour monochrome light beige-orange, rarely light brown with whitish suprasutural band. Varix whitish with weak orange lines in correspondence with the spirals. » – Ibid.

« Alvania bozcaadensis Tisselli & Giunchi, 2013 is probably the morphologically closest species, differing by the more slender outline, the more numerous and finer axial ribs on last whorl (13-16 vs. 9-12 in A. zaraensis n. sp.), as wide as half the interspaces vs. larger than interspaces in A. zaraensis n. sp., the more globose apex, often with lower number of whorls (1.25 vs. 1.25-1.40 in A. zaraensis n. sp.), and a smaller nucleus (0.100mm vs. 0.125-0.175mm in A. zaraensis n. sp.). » – Ibid.