This species is distinguished by the following characters: gill rakers on upper limb of 1st gill arch, 19-21 (modally 20), on lower limb 26-30 (28), total 47-51 (47); gill rakers on upper limb of 2nd gill arch 13-16 (14), on lower limb 24-27 (25), total 37-42 (39); gill rakers on upper limb of 3rd gill arch 10-13 (12), on lower limb 14-16 (15), total 25-28 (27); gill rakers on upper limb of 4th gill arch 8-11 (9), on lower limb 11-13 (12), total 19-24 (21); prepelvic scutes 5-7 (6); total vertebrae 38-39 (39); long maxilla, its posterior tip just reaching or slightly short of posterior margin of opercle; with predorsal scute; pelvic scute no spine; body scales are deciduous; posterior border of pre-opercle concave, indented; paired dark patch on parietal area with little following pigmentation; distinct double pigment lines along dorsum posterior to the dorsal fin; no black spots below eye and on lower-jaw tip; anal-fin base is short, 17.6-19.3% (mean 18.6%) of SL; third dorsal-fin ray 16.5-18.8% (17.6%) of SL; pelvic fin is short, 8.7-9.9% (9.4%) of SL, its posterior tip usually not reaching to vertical through dorsal-fin origin when depressed; distance between posterior ends of supramaxilla and maxilla 4.7-5.4% (5.1%) of SL; pre-dorsal-fin length 51.3-54.9% (53.4%) of SL; dorsal-fin base is short, 13.1-14.5% (13.8%) of SL (Ref. 130210).