Description: Body oval to pyriform and very shallow; caudal peduncle long and very shallow (Ref. 128938). Head short and narrow with a gently convex to very gently concave dorsal outline; snout short, acute in lateral view with an inclination of 35-42°, and rather acute in dorsal view; interorbital area flattened and broad and oral jaws very narrow, which give head a characteristic triangular to obovoid, i.e. inverted egg-shaped, outline in anterior view; eye average in size; lacrimal average in depth; cheek very shallow; lower jaw average in length; upper jaw short, especially in comparison to lower jaw, upper jaw length 63.4-71.5% of lower jaw length; both jaws very narrow, slim, and with a moderate gape inclination of 25-35°; maxilla extends to just anterior of vertical through anterior margin of orbit; lips very thin (Ref. 128938). Outer oral teeth average in number, small, and not embedded in oral mucosa; necks slender, constricted, laterally compressed, and weakly recurved; crowns weakly recurved, bicuspid in small specimens of less than 75 mm standard length, bicuspid to a mixture of bicuspid and unicuspid in large specimens larger than 75 mm standard length, rarely some tricuspid teeth in specimens of all sizes; bicuspid teeth bluntly pointed and with a subequilateral major cusp with a small to large flange, and a large and rounded minor cusp; unicuspid teeth with a subequilateral cusp with a large flange, giving teeth dorsally flattened appearance; dental arcades rounded; outer teeth closely and regularly set with neck-distances of 1/2 neck-width; posterior 1/4-1/5 of premaxillary dentigerous arm often edentulous; posteriormost premaxillary outer teeth very small and uni-, bi-, or tricuspid; inner teeth small, recurved, tricuspid, and bluntly pointed; tooth bands very slender crescent-shaped with 1-2 rows of inner teeth, narrowing posteriorly until only outer row remains past 2/3 length of tooth band; inner rows very closely and regularly set on 1 neck-width from outer row in both jaws, implantation erect; size uniform throughout tooth band (Ref. 128938). Lower pharyngeal bone very short, narrow, very slim, and very shallow over entire length; pharyngeal teeth small, very slender, and recurved; major cusps acutely pointed; minor cusp gap concave; minor cusps small to large; cusp protuberances small; teeth in two median longitudinal rows almost equal in size and form to lateral teeth, about 10 in each row; posterior transverse row with 27-37 teeth, implanted erectly; major cusp bluntly pointed, and laterally compressed; minor cusp gap straight; minor cusp present (Ref. 128938). Chest scales generalised; transition to flank scales gradual; minute scales on proximal half of caudal fin; longitudinal line scales 32-35; upper lateral line scales 20-24, lower lateral line scales 9-15; upper transverse line scales 4-6, lower transverse line scales 8-11; caudal peduncle scales 16-19; pelvic-pectoral scales 4-5 (Ref. 128938). Caudal fin emarginate to truncate; dorsal and anal fins reach to vertical through 2-5 scales anterior to caudal-fin base; pectoral and pelvic fins reach to around anal opening; in dominant males, pelvic fin reaches to first anal fin spine; first branched pelvic-fin ray slightly elongated in all specimens (Ref. 128938). Ceratobranchial gill rakers in outer row of first gill arch relatively long, slender, and simple; posteriormost rakers simple to bifid; epibranchial gill rakers slender and simple (Ref. 128938).

Colouration: Live colouration of dominant males: dorsal half of body iridescent blue to blue-green; ventral half of flank, operculum, and cheek iridescent silver; transition rather abrupt at horizontal through lower lateral line; belly whitish; chest speckled black; branchiostegal membrane black; snout and lips dusky; nostril and supraorbital stripes and nape band faint; lacrimal stripe well-defined; eye brownish with a golden to silver inner ring; pectoral fin hyaline; pelvic fin black; dorsal and caudal fins dusky, dorsal fin with black lappets; anal fin hyaline to rarely faintly dusky and with 1-3 very large, three times the distance between two fin rays, yellow egg spots with hyaline borders; subdominant males are the same as dominant males except for whitish chest and faint lacrimal stripe (Ref. 128938). Live colouration of females and juveniles: dorsal half of body iridescent green to blue-green; ventral half of flank, operculum, and cheek iridescent silver; transition rather abrupt at horizontal through lower lateral line; belly and chest whitish; snout and lips dusky; nostril, supraorbital, and lacrimal stripes very faint; eye whitish to brownish with a silver to golden inner ring; pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins hyaline, anal fin with 1-3 spots resembling egg spots; dorsal and caudal fins dusky to hyaline, dorsal fin with dusky lappets (Ref. 128938). Preserved colouration: in all specimens dorsal parts of body and head brown, ventral part of body, operculum, and cheek white to yellow, transition rather abrupt at horizontal through lower lateral line, lacrimal, snout and lips dusky; flank often with a faint mid-lateral band from opercular blotch to caudal-fin base; nostril and interorbital stripes faint; vertical preopercular stripe faint to absent; pectoral fin hyaline; dorsal fin dusky and with black lappets; caudal fin faint dusky with a dusky distal margin; in dominant males, chest speckled black; branchiostegal membrane black; lower jaw dusky; lacrimal stripe well-defined; pelvic fin black; anal fin hyaline to faint dusky and with 1-3 very large egg spots; in juveniles and females chest, branchiostegal membrane, and lower jaw white to yellow; lacrimal stripe present; pelvic and anal fins hyaline (Ref. 128938).