The depressed conical shell is dark or variegated in color. The large aperture is oblique. The concave columella is arcuate, thin-edged, perfectly simple and curved below. It is above spread over the umbilical area as a rounded, well-defined pad of callus.[5]
Patterns of the variegated shell color within the genus Oxystele are shown in the image : A–C Oxystele variegata from Namibia, 5 km north of Swakopmund, diameter 22.2 mm (NMSA E6038) D–F Oxystele impervia from the Western Cape, Groen Rivier, diameter 22.3 mm (NMSA E7353) G–I Oxystele sp. from the Eastern Cape, Tsitsikamma National Park, diameter 16.5 mm (HVDBM058-10, NMSA W7371); the colour pattern of these specimens suggests Oxystele variegata, but these specimens group within the unit of Oxystele impervia J–L Oxystele sp. from the Northern Cape, Noup, diameter 18.0 mm (HVDBM185-10, NMSA W7608); the colour pattern suggests Oxystele impervia, but they group with Oxystele variegata
^Heller, Joseph; Dempster, Yvonne (1991). "Detection of two coexisting species of Oxystele (Gastropoda: Trochidae) by morphological and electrophoretic analyses". Journal of Zoology. 223 (3): 395–418. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1991.tb04773.x.
^ abDonald, Kirsten M.; Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G. (2005). "The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 37 (2): 474–483. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.011.
Williams S.T., Donald K.M., Spencer H.G. & Nakano T. (2010) Molecular systematics of the marine gastropod families Trochidae and Calliostomatidae (Mollusca: Superfamily Trochoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54:783-809
