Distinguished from all its congeners by the following combination of characters: dorsal fin with 8 branched rays; anal fin with 7-9 branched rays; 2 rows of pharyngeal teeth on both sides with 2 and 5 teeth, respectively; wide caudal peduncle; 8-11 gill rakers; lateral line scales 35-39; scale rows above lateral line 7-8; scale rows below lateral line 3; 39 vertebrae, 22 abdominal and 17 caudal; large fourth and fifth infraorbital bones; maxilla with a very marked and pointed anterior process; frontal bone expanded at its middle; wide neurocranium bone; the lower branch of the pharyngeal bone is robust; large and narrow urohyal (Ref. 72459). Other diagnostic characters include infraorbital bones broad, width of infraorbitals 2 and 5 about 4-5 times width of sensory canal on same bones, presence of a black crescentic mark on scale pocket of each flank scale, head length about equal to body depth, mouth terminal, and 4 scale rows between lateral line and pelvic origin (Ref. 59043).