Other similar structures are spinose teeth, spinose apical processes, and trichomes. Its tail is round in section and features very spinose scales. The glabrous or subglabrous and scurfy branchlets have spinose stipules with a length of . The upper ones are carinate and tuberculate or spinose at the periphery. Scales on the body less smooth and interspersed with larger spinose scales. The males have hemipenes that are short and spinose beyond the bifurcation. As the branch grows it becomes glabrous and terminates in a rigid spinose point. It differs from all other Sabellidae in having a calcareous tube and spinose setae. The hemipenis is subcylindrical and spinose throughout. The spinose shrub typically grows to a height of . The whorls show on their edge spinose projections. There can be found also spines or spinose structures derived from roots. Spinose ear tick adults do not feed; they absorb water from the atmosphere to survive. Intervening lobes are variably branched with thorn-like or spinose terminations as viewed in plan. Spinose ear ticks are a constant source of annoyance and irritation for their definitive hosts.