This species can be distinguished from the southeastern Hypseleotris by the following set of characters: blunt head, snout rounded in profile, with dorsal scales; absence of pointed median fin tips of H. acropinna, H. galii, H. mooloboolaensis; distinct median fin coloration in breeding males, with red, black and orange stripes on the distal half of the fin, often with a thin white edge (Ref. 128732).