Distinguished by the following characters: mouth moderate; reaching to a point below anterior margin to middle of eye; operculum with a small patch of 10-20 scales dorsally in 2-3 longitudinal rows; second dorsal rays I,8; pectoral rays 18-21 (usually 19 or 20); predorsal scale count 15-19; one or usually two small lateral canal head pores above anterior operculum just before terminal lateral canal pore; papilla line 6 well developed; papilla lines composed of a single row of papillae; snout length 11.6-13.6% SL ; body with 5 oval, horizontally elongate brown to black spots on midside from second dorsal origin to posterior end of caudal peduncle; spots usually bordered by faint brown lines above and below.