Differs from other species by possessing a slender (slightly broader than long), well-spaced, and indented lower pharyngeal plate; 2 rows of 8-9 medium-sized, lightly pigmented molars flank the midline; and 11-13 non-enlarged conic teeth along the posterior margin. Distinguished from all congeners by a combination of the following characters: head short (mean 35%, SD 3%); rostral tip to the pectoral fin origin distance (mean 33%, SD 1%); caudal peduncle short (mean 15%, SD 1%) and deep (mean 16%, SD 1%); long anal fin (origin to hypural base distance; mean 40%, SD 1%); wide preorbit (mean 30%, SD 3%); eye small (mean 21%, SD 2%); predorsal contour deep and nonacute, which is not concave before the eye; and peritoneum is uniformly very dark (Ref. 94458).