This species is distinguished by the following characters: presence of a superior medial stripe; a relatively small adult body size (<15.0 cm); small eye, its diameter is less than snout length); terminal mouth; length of the posterodorsal process of infraorbitals 1+2 60-75% length of infraorbitals 1+2; premaxillary dentition, with 11-15 teeth in three rows; endopterygoid dentition, with six to seven teeth distributed in a single row; size of dentary teeth increasing after the sixth to seventh tooth; A 183-219; pectoral-fin rays ii, 13-14; suborbital depth, 28-36% HL; orbital diameter, 15.7-23.9% HL; head depth at supraoccipital, 86.8-96.7% HL; head length, 11.2-12.8% LEA; snout length, 23.9-30.3% HL; interorbital distance, 33.5-40.7% HL. Colouration: uniformly dark brown head and light brown pectoral fins on recently-preserved specimens (Ref. 138573).