This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: head moderately long and broad, head length 22.4% TL, interorbital space 7.0% TL; snout moderately long, pre-oral length 9.3% TL, preorbital length 9.5% TL; mouth very wide, its width 10.7% TL; pelvic-anal space 3.4% TL; anal fin large, base length 17.7% TL, posterior margin 12.5% TL; prepectoral length relatively long, 21.9% TL; labial furrows long, not confined to mouth corners, uppers longer than lowers (3.9 vs. 2.3% TL); enlarged denticles absent on upper or lower caudal fin; 35 monospondylous centra; 35 precaudal-diplospondylous vertebrae; precaudal centra 70; females mature by 537 mm TL; and egg case small (49.4-67.6 mm long), with 10-14 weakly T-shaped ridges on dorsal and ventral surfaces (Ref. 138162)