Snout 2.5 in HL; viewed dorsally somewhat duck-bill shaped, lateral margins convex, completely supported by bone; terminal scute blunt; orbits large, about equal to interorbital width, 1.6-1.7 in snout. Subopercle terminates in slender acute flap. Dermal window of light organ prominent, immediately anterior to periproct, length about 1/3 orbit diameter. Anus slightly removed from anal fin. Underside of head covered with numerous dark filamentous and flaplike papillae; almost entirely naked except for patch above end of lower jaw and at end of preopercle; nasal fossa scaled over entire ventral surfaces. Spinules on body scales strong, bladelike, with broad buttresses; arranged in 4 or 5 divergent rows. First dorsal fin uniformly dark; other fins dark to dusky; mouth dark.