The length of the shell varies between 30 mm and 100 mm.
The imperforate shell is solid, polished and shining. Its color pattern is rich brown, variously ornamented with dark bands interrupted with white blotches and narrow stripes. The five whorls are flattened beneath the suture, sometimes carinated above. The aperture measures about half the length of the shell. It is circular and pearly within. The peristome and columella are tinged with greenish-yellow. The pattern on the shell is very similar to Turbo moolenbeeki, especially in the brown form Turbo petholathus.
The circular operculum contains four whorls and a nucleus placed one-third the distance across the face. The outer surface is convex, shining, bright green on the center, the margins brown on one side, white upon the other, slightly granulose about the edges.[2]
Jarrett, A.G. (2000) Marine Shells of the Seychelles. Carole Green Publishing, Cambridge, xiv + 149 pp. NIZT 682
Alf A. & Kreipl K. (2003). A Conchological Iconography: The Family Turbinidae, Subfamily Turbininae, Genus Turbo. Hackenheim, Germany: Conchbooks.
Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp.
Zuschin, M., Janssen, R. & Baal, C. (2009). Gastropods and their habitats from the northern Red Sea (Egypt: Safaga). Part 1: Patellogastropoda, Vetigastropoda and Cycloneritimorpha. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 111[A]: 73–158.
Fowler, O. (2016). Seashells of the Kenya coast. ConchBooks: Harxheim. Pp. 1–170
Bozzetti L. (2019). Turbo roxas (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Turbinidae) nuova specie dalle Filippine meridionali. Malacologia Mostra Mondiale. 104: 24-25
Dornellas A.P. & Simone L.R.L. (2020). Detailed anatomy of Turbo petholatus Linnaeus, 1758 (Vetigastropoda, Trochoidea, Turbinidae) and its implications for turbinid systematics. Vita Malacologica. 19: 20-29
