This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: gill rakers on upper limb of 1st gill arch, 17-20 (modally 19), on lower limb 24-27 (26), total 42-46 (44); gill rakers on upper limb of 2nd gill arch, 13-15 (14), on lower limb 21-24 (24), total 35-39 (36); gill rakers on upper limb of 3rd gill arch 11 or 12 (11), on lower limb 13 or 14 (13), total 24-26 (24); gill rakers on upper limb of 4th gill arch 8 or 9 (9), on lower limb 10-12 (11), total 19-21 (20); prepelvic scutes 6 or 7 (6); total vertebrae 39 or 40 (39); maxilla long, posterior tip just reaching or slightly short of posterior margin of opercle; predorsal scutes absent; pelvic scute no spine; posterior margin of preopercle indented; parietal area with a pair of dark patches, with a few following pigment spots; distinct double pigment lines along dorsum posterior to dorsal fin; no black spots below eye and lower-jaw tip; body deep, 23.3-25.3% of SL; pre-anal-fin length is relatively long, 65.1-67.1% of SL; distance between the origins of dorsal and anal fins long, 23.4-25.7% of SL; distance between pelvic-fin insertion to anal-fin origin is relatively long, 19.0-21.5% of SL; pelvic fin long, 9.5-10.1% of SL; third dorsal-fin ray is long, 18.6-18.8% of SL; third anal-fin ray long, 15.7-16.1% of SL; postorbital area long, 51.0-53.5% of HL (Ref. 130209).