This species is highly apomorphic compared to other Bujurquina species by the following characters: 1) shape and pattern of the suborbital stripe in adults is curved and with a blotch at the postero-ventral end (vs. straight or absent, with or without blotch); 2) orange cheek and lower head coloration pattern, with alternating opalescent lines and series of spots on snout and spotted on cheek and lower head; 3) spiny region of dorsal fin with a single thin diagonal black line per membrane, or two lines per membrane in holotype and largest adults (vs. unpatterned in all Southern group species, or with circular blotches, with many thick diagonal black lines per membrane or 2 thick horizontal bands across the dorsal fin in all other Northern group species; 4) longest snout of all species without overlap (15.5% mean, 14.4-16.4% of SL); 5) most delicate 'lower pharyngeal jaw' (LPJ), expressed by being shortest of all species with widest horns (length/width ratio 0.42-0.45 vs. 0.50-0.64 in all other species), one of the smallest dentigerous areas, and the least robust dorsi-ventrally (Ref. 128854).