Possesses the characters of the rocky group and can be diagnosed within the species of the rocky group by the following characters: asymmetrical tooth cusps (vs. almost symmetrical cusps in Rineloricaria aequalicuspis); spotted color pattern in all fins (vs. a unique color pattern composed of one dark, wide band covering most of the distal one-half of all fins in Rineloricaria baliola); narrower head, head width 74.7-83.5 (vs. 83.7-93.6% of head length in Rineloricaria jaraguensis); 5-11 teeth in both dentary and premaxilla (vs. 12-16 teeth in each jaw in Rineloricaria latirostris); plated abdomen (vs. naked or almost naked in Rineloricaria malabarbai and Rineloricaria maquinensis); and short dorsal unbranched principal caudal-fin ray (vs. dorsal unbranched principal caudal-fin ray produced in a filament in Rineloricaria pentamaculata) (Ref. 75788).