This species is distinguished from all its congeners by the following set characters: dorsal fin with 9½ or 10½ branched rays; caudal fin with 9+8 or 8+8 or 8+7 branched rays; lateral line is complete; with axillary pelvic lobe; processus dentiformis is poorly developed; male with suborbital flap; body depth 12.8-16.0 % SL. Colouration: body with 12-13 irregular dark-brown blotches or bars on flank, alternately arranged with 11-16 dark brown saddles of varying shape and size on the back; dorsum of head with a distinct rhomboid dark brown mark encircling a pale oval area on the nape; basicaudal bar black, with its dorsal extremity presenting as a small, slightly oblique blotch, its ventral extremity presenting as a vertically elongated blotch, more or less connected by an indistinct black region between the two (Ref. 132199).