This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: strongly humped dorsal profile; head and flanks covered with rounded tubercles; eye diameter 8% HL; head width 18.5-19.7% SL; head depth 15.8-16.0% SL; 12-14 rakers on first gill arch; posttemporal process indistinct and not as long as postcleithral process; dorsal margin of postcleithral process slightly concave; length of pectoral-fin spine 15.4-16.7% SL; 17-18 serrations on posterior margin of pectoral spine; length of dorsal-fin spine 18.5-22.4% SL; body depth at anus 14.2-16.0% SL; length of adipose-fin base 23.3-26.1% SL; posterior insertion of adipose fin separate from dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays; caudal peduncle depth 5.5-6.0% SL; absence of tubular extensions of laterosensory canals on body; dark-colored body with pale patches on flanks; caudal fin without dark submarginal longitudinal band running along both lobes; 43-44 vertebrae (Ref. 133079).