Description: slender, elongated body with a fairly long snout, although somewhat shorter than in P. humilis and P. signatus; caudal fin rounded in both sexes (Ref. 52307).

Coloration: Body reddish-brown in males, more yellowish-brown in females; 7 dark vertical bars visible on body in most situations, although these may rarely disappear; dark longitudinal stripe rarely visible, running along mid-body; dark spot on caudal peduncle present in both sexes during most situations, as are dark margins on body scales (always more visible in males than in females); males with reddish snout and lips and without patterns (dots or maculae) in the fins, which are also normally reddish (mainly at their base); in some females, 1-2 black spots on dorsal fin; both sexes with blue to green iridescent worm-like lines on cheeks and opercles, which may sometimes extend over an even greater area; females with rosy to violet belly with an iridescent yellow to turquoise anterior region (Ref. 52307).