This species is distinguished by the following characters: maxillary barbel extending beyond the pectoral-fin base; teeth few in both jaws (1-2 in premaxilla; 4-6 in dentary); edge of lips with barbelets, surface of lips with papillae and with one thick barbelet behind premaxillae and other two barbelets next to each pre-maxillae; in the holotype the barbelet behind premaxillae ramifies into two conical arms with equal size, while in paratypes this thick barbelet is not ramified; differs from all its congeners by the presence of a unique pattern of the buccal ornamentation, with numerous elongated smooth papillae in irregular rows on lower lip (vs. papillae not elongated; differs from R. macromystax, R. stewarti and R. listrorhinos by having fewer premaxillary teeth, 1-2 (vs. 4-6 in macromystax, stewarti, and 5-6 in listrorhinos), and by having a triangular-shaped head in dorsal view (vs. spatula-shaped head); differs from R. rhami by maxillary barbel reaching the middle of the pectoral fin (vs. maxillary barbel not reaching the gill opening) (Ref. 128857).