This species is distinguished by the following characters: a concave bony interorbital which is less than half pupil-diameter in width; slight or no groove posterodorsal to eye; presence of scales in the midline of the predorsal region; absence of opercular scales; the fifth pelvic ray is branched once dichotomously and more than 80% the length of the fourth ray; adults with the epaxial musculature reaching anteromedially to a point in line with the posterior margin of the eye; elongated spines in first dorsal fin absent (the second spine is longest, reaching to the region of the base of the second dorsal-fin spine); scale pockets are strongly outlined by melanophores and chromatophores; with a dark, vertical bar on the base of the pectoral fin; 6 grey saddles across the dorsum (Ref. 100726).