This species is distinguished by the following characters: chin with 6 pores, no median pit; gill rakers on first gill arch 9-11 + 1 + 20-23 = 29-34; Dorsal fin with XII-XIV (usually XIII),17-20 with 3rd or 4th spines longest; lips fleshy, greatly swollen with age; scales ctenoid (rough to touch); lateral line tubed scales about 55-65; body depth 2.6-2.9 in SL; caudal fin rounded in juveniles, truncate in adults. Colour: juveniles with connected black blotches and spots that gradually break up into horizontal stripes; pectoral fins black in juveniles becoming uniform yellow in adults; tail spotted with age; adults with 6 to 12 broad dark brown, blue-brown or black stripes that persist on the belly and join horizontally across the nape and snout with anterior part of pale interspaces yellow forming 2 bright yellow stripes across interorbital and 2 around snout; eye usually yellow; fins yellow with black margins to vertical fins and black spots, pectoral fins uniform yellow with red-brown, chocolate, or blackish base, pelvic fins yellow with base red-brown, scarlet, or dark brown (Ref. 47695, 90102).