This species, a member of the Gachua group, is distinguished from all other Myanmar members except C. ornatipinnis, C. pulchra, C. stewartii by the presence of numerous black spots on the head and body (vs. absence); differs from the latter by the size of the spots which are tiny, a quarter of pupil size (vs. almost pupil size or larger) and by its unique fin colouration in life, consisting of a pectoral fin with orange fin rays, a bluish proximal blotch and 3-6 brown distal semicircular concentric bands, of dorsal-, anal- and caudal-fins with a blue middle section of the fin membranes margined by a proximal dark brown and distal bright orange rim in the dorsal and caudal fins and white rim in the anal fin (vs. different colour pattern); differs substantially

from all Myanmar Gachua group snakeheads by a genetic distance of 11.6–19.3% in the COI gene (Ref. 131044).