This species is distinguished by the following characters: with a rigid upper jaw lacking flexible lamina posteriorly, in adults extending about 0.7-1.2 eye diameters behind posterior margin of orbit; infraorbitals are relatively slender and tubular, the third infraorbital with small sensory canal opening and slender suborbital shelf; D X-XI,17-18, rarely X,18; vertebrae typically 12 + 18 or 19; body with two separate lateral lines, with the ventral one irregularly developed along lower side in region of anal-fin origin, often with one or more branches on belly; head covered with close-set, tiny, brown spots; pelvic and caudal fins usually strongly barred; anterior naris palmate (Ref. 128653).