Red Sea to Persian Gulf and Pakistan, to eastern Mediterranean. Grazer in sheltered lagoons and shallow reef near seagrass beds. « Shell […] thick, shape ovate-quadrangular. Growth lines all over shell; major growth interruptions occasionally present behind lip. Parietal callus thin; columella thick. Spire aperture wide; spire 6-7 whorls, with raised striae. Protoconch diameter 130-140 µm. Background colour whitish to brown, mottled with darker blotches that can merge to form faint spiral bands. Aperture white with shell pattern visible; lip brown; columella white. » – M. A. E. Malaquias & D. G. Reid: “Systematic revision of the living species of Bullidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cephalaspidea), with a molecular phylogenetic analysis”, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society vol.153(3), London 2008, p.517. The species differs from the african B. ampulla Linn. by a more square outline and by paler colours.