This species is distinguished by the following characters: D VII+12; A 11; pectoral rays 16-17; pelvic rays I,5 and fused into a cup; scaleless; inferior mouth; complete upper lip groove (without frenum); color: black upper head and body, pale middorsal streak behind head, lower half of head and ventral aspect of body white, wide iridescent blue lateral band divides black upper body, band contains a full-length midline yellow stripe which extends forward onto upper orbit and meets

on snout in a V or U; notably, yellow stripe is of uniform width from eye to tail; the color pattern is distinctive, shared only with rare individuals of E. evelynae YB (YB denotes the yellow-blue striped morph). This species differs from E. evelynae by the absence of the upper-lip frenum; differs from E. genie with the latter having a wider pale lateral band that is often bright white and the indistinct yellow stripe widens prominently behind the eye and no pale middorsal streak behind the head (Ref. 97572).