This species is distinguished from its congeners in the Pacific Ocean by the following characters: with two fleshy papillae on the cleithrum (absent in elongatus, karnellai, struhsakeri); fewer number of gill rakers 30-33 (vs. 34+ in other species); differs further from cyanescens, nitidus, which have bony cleithral papillae; fewer pectoral-fin rays 18-19 (vs. 22 in cyanescens, 20-23 in nitidus) and fewer lateral-line scales 69-74 (vs. 100-105 in cyanescens, 87-93 in nitidus); differs from Erythrocles schlegelii, which also has fleshy cleithral papillae, by II isolated dorsal-fin spines between the spinous and soft dorsal fin (Ref. 130869).