This species is distinguished by the following characters: eyes large typical of the O. megalops species group, but without a blackened anal-fin base in advance of the tail tip. It differs from its Indo-West Pacific congeners in having the following set of characters: eyes large (15.9% HL); snout short and blunt (22.0% HL); rictus slightly anterior of vertical through posterior margin of eye; dorsal-fin origin 2.2 times pectoral-fin length behind tip of pectoral fin; a knob present between nostrils; teeth biserial on upper jaw and uniserial on vomer and lower jaw; supraorbital pores 1+4 and preoperculo-mandibular pores 6+2; vertebral formula 20-59-177 . Colouration: body bicoloured, grey-brown dorsally and uniformly pale ventrally (Ref. 129533).