| Diagnosis: |
This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: dorsal and anal fns with three unbranched rays; branched pectoral-fn rays 11-13 (modally 11); pseudobranchial flaments 17-19 (18); gill rakers on first gill arch, upper limb 13-14 (14), lower limb 17-18 (18), total 30-32 (32); second gill arch, upper limb 10-11 (10), lower limb 16-17 (16), total 26-28 (26); third gill arch, upper limb 8-9 (8), lower limb 9-10 (10), total 17-19 (19); fourth gill arch, upper limb 6-8 (7), lower limb 7-9 (8), total 14-17 (15); gill rakers 3-6 (4) on the hind face of third gill arch; spine-like scutes on abdomen 4-6 (5); transverse scales 8-9 (8); exposed urohyal bony and no fleshy knobs; head short its length 25.9-27.2% (mean 26.4%) of SL; maxilla rather short, its length 17.1-18.3% (17.7%), the posterior tip just reaching to anterior margin of preopercle; lower jaw short, its length 17.5-18.7% (18.0%) of SL; orbit short, its diameter 6.7-7.8% (7.3%) of SL; snout short, its length 4.3-4.8% (4.6%) of SL; body rather deep, its depth 15.1-16.4% (15.6%) of SL; pelvic fn long, its length 9.3-10.2% (9.7%) of SL (Ref. 124514). |