A member of the Puntius conchonius group uniquely distinguishable by the shape of the last unbranched dorsal fin ray which is slender, flexible and with short serrations posteriorly. Similar to P. cumingii, P. didi and P. meingangbii by presence of a dark vertical bar anteriorly on side and a dark round blotch on caudal peduncle; differs from these species by lateral line continued to caudal fin base vs. present on only 5 to 10 scales. Distinguished from the geographically close P. didi by body depth 35.4-39.8% SL vs. 40.4-48.2% SL and dorsal fin length 23.2-26.0% SL vs. 26.6-31.8% SL, and males with a single dark band across dorsal and anal fin vs. two series of black elongate marks in dorsal fin and one series of black marks in anal fin (Ref. 54351).

Description: D. iii.8, iv.8; P. i.12, i.13, i.14; V. i.7, i.8; A. iii.5 (Ref. 54351).