The length of the shell varies between 4 mm and 7 mm.
Alvania cimex and Alvania mamillata may be the same species, according to studies of Oliver et al. (2015), differing only in the larval life span.[2] They share in the phylogram the same 16S and 28S sequences . [3]
The imperforate shell is strong and opaque. It is covered by rounded granules in longitudinal and spiral series. It is white or light fulvous to chestnut color, unicolored or bifasciate. The outer
lip is thick, labiate and suleate within, white-varicose externally. [4]
^Alvania cimex (Linnaeus, 1758). Gofas, S. (2009). Alvania cimex (Linné, 1758). In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through the
World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=141167 on 9 August 2010 .
^Oliver J.D., Calvo M., Guallart J., et al. 2015. Gasterópodos marinos de las islas Chafarinas (Mediterráneo suroccidental). Iberus 33: 97-150.
Cossmann (M.), 1921 - Essais de Paléoconchologie comparée. livraison 12, p. 1-349
Korobkov (I.A.), 1955 - Spravochnik I methodicheskoe revodstvo po tretichnym molliuskam. Briuckhonologie [= Manuel et guide des Mollusques tertiaires, Gastéropodes], p. 1-795