This 16 mm subspecies is very close to Chaetopleura lanuginosa (Carpenter in Dall, 1879) but their ranges do not overlap. The valves are mottled or streaked with light brown, scarlet,, gray, blackish, and white. The valves are pointed but not keeled. The girdle has a dense coating of short spicules with a few scattered larger spines.
Illustrated specimen from Burghardt Collection