Distinguished from all congeners by the color pattern which develops as a row of paired vertical bars in young, and which are further fragmented into an adult color pattern composed of small dark spots all over the sides. Other characters useful to diagnose from other species include the following: 42-57 E1 scales; smooth supracleithrum; absence of a humeral blotch; infraorbitals 3 and 4 separate; cycloid cheek and predorsal scales; movable implanted outer teeth; nostril well separated from upper lip; serrated preopercular margin; lower jaw prognathous; preopercular margin serrated; preopercle serrated; black dots marking lateral line scales absent. Most similar to C. mandelburgeri in proportional measurements and meristics, but distinguished by the dissolution of vertical bars into small spots, absent in C. mandelburgeri (Ref. 93325).