The Ceriths of the Cerithiidae Family are gastropod mollusks that have small to medium sized shells with the majority being found in Baja waters being less than 1.0 cm (0.4 inches) in length. Cerith Shells are elongate, many-whorled shells with a sharp spire. They have a small aperture with an anterior canal that is often curved. Surface sculpting is usually radial, in the form of ridges or knobs. Live specimens have a corneous (horn-like) operculum.
Most Ceriths live in shallow water but a few species live in very deep water. They reside within algae, coral, rock, sand and sea grasses environments. They feed on micro-algae and detritus deposited on the substrate. In turn they are preyed on by shore birds, crabs and fish.
Cerith Shells are found worldwide in tropical and temperate seas. They are similar to but differ from members of the Potamididae Family of Horns by having an aperture with a better-developed anterior notch. There are more than three hundred known species in the Cerithiidae Family of which forty-two are found along the coastlines of the Baja Peninsula.