Alburnoides samiii is distinguished from other congeners in Iran by a combination of the following characters: a terminal mouth, with a tip of the mouth cleft on a level with the middle of the eye or below; a mostly or completely scaled ventral keel; the lack of well-marked spots or dark pigmentation in the lateral line canal; the lack of strong spots or dark outline to the lateral line canal; dorsal fin outer margin truncate to slightly concave; anal fin outer margin markedly concave; a large eye (eye diameter about equal to interorbital width); 2.5-4.2 pharyngeal teeth; a long and shallow caudal peduncle (its length 22.8-26.5, mean 24.5 in SL); a shallow head (head depth 61.2-74.6, mean 68.9 in HL); caudal-fin lobes are pointed, the fin is clearly forked; commonly 8½ branched rays on dorsal fin; commonly 12½-14½, branched rays on anal fin; commonly 40-41 total vertebrae; commonly 12-13 predorsal vertebrae; 19-20 abdominal vertebrae and 20-21 caudal vertebrae (Ref. 106248).