This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: position of the anal-fin is more anterior with its origin situated anterior to the vertical through the distal tip of the last dorsal-fin ray (vs. anal-originating posteriorly); it differs further (except with L. avacanoeiro and L. stibaros) in lacking plates on the anterior tip of the snout (vs. snout entirely covered with plates or with an inconspicuous naked area), in teeth having long cusps (vs. short), and having a longer dentary in specimens larger than 50 mm SL, 20.1-22.6%, (vs. 11.5-19.1% HL); differs from L. filamentosus and L. llanero in having a semi-oval shaped lower lip (vs. semicircular shaped); similar to L. avacanoeiro and L. stibaros, but from which it may be distinguished by having a broader head 101.3-106.1% (vs. 78.9-101.4% HL) and the greater orbital diameter 16.6-17.3%, (vs. 13.7-15.5% HL), in specimens larger than 10.0 cm SL; also differs from L. avacanoeiro in having a longer first branched dorsal-fin ray 26.4-31.0% (vs. 20.5-26.7% SL) (Ref.83332).