A small creamy-brown whelk (up to 3 cm in height) it has a pointed, straight sided spire. The criss-crossing of longitudinal and spiral ridges gives the whelk its characteristic netted (reticulate) pattern. It has an oval aperture with an outer lip that is thickened and toothed in mature animals. The inner lip extends over the body-whorl and the siphonal canal is deep and at an oblique angle.Hinia reticulata feeds on dead and decaying animal matter.