This species is distinguished by the following characters: teeth bifid teeth (vs. spoon-shaped); dark spots on a light background (vs light spots on a dark background or not spotted); 4 rough lateral ridges on flanks (vs. absent); 26-29 lateral series plates (vs. < 28 in several species, 31-32 in H. laplatae); 1-2 plates bordering posterior margin of the supraoccipital bone (vs. 3-4 in H. laplatae); differs from H. affinis, H. punctatus, H. ancistroides by having inter-dorsal distance 14.4-19.5% in SL (vs. 18.9-21.0%); head depth 49.0-71.6% in HL (vs. 48.2-49.9); differs from H. spiniger by having fine lateral ridges with odontodes posteriorly inclined (vs. large lateral ridges with odontodes in all directions), weak lateral ridges in caudal peduncle (vs. strong), mid lateral ridge from first plate (vs. ridge from 2nd or 3rd plates); adult of this species (> 12.0 cm SL) can be distinguished from adult H. spiniger by having a strong ridge on temporal plate (vs. very week) (Ref. 121236).