« Shell is tall, very slender, glossy, relatively solid, smooth, semi transparent. Apex is obtuse, apical angle is about 20°. Body whorl is about 45% of shell height. Whorls are relatively flat divided by indistinct oblique sutures. Coloration is from brownish on the upper whorls to white and light blue on the body whorl. Growth lines are orthocline, poorly marked. Protoconch is cup-shaped. Aperture is very tall, oval with acute angle in the upper part. Umbilicus is closed. » – I. O. Nekhaev: “Distributional notes on Gibbula cineraria, Pseudosetia turgida and Haliella stenostoma in Russian part of the Barents Sea”, Ruthenica 23(1), 2013, p.35-59.

« Shell spike-shaped, slender, thin, transparent, glossy and of a brilliant lustre. Sculpture: extremely slight and close-set spiral lines, which are discernible only under the microscope and in certain lights; the surface when examined by the aid of a strong lens or hand magnifier appears quite smooth and polished. Colour milk-white. Spire elongated, ending abruptly in a blunt and semiglobular point. Whorls 9, drawn out and gently swelling; the last occupies nearly one-half of the spire. » – J. G. Jeffreys: British conchology vol. IV, London 1867, p.207.

« Suture oblique, defined by a rather broad hem or border of flake-white, which is encircled underneath by a clear and narrow line; this hem or border arises from a thickening of the shelly material to form the suture or commissure. Mouth narrow, extending from a sharp angle above to an expanded and rounded base; the inner or columellar side represents a very obtuse angle. Outer lip flexuous, with a rather thin edge, receding at the top and advancing outwards towards the base. Inner lip reflected and twisted over the lower part of the pillar. Operculum filmy, pale yellowish-horncolour, marked with slight flexuous striae in the line of growth. » – Ibid.