This species is distinguished from Z. zebrus by the following characters: snout longer than eye, its length 1.1-1.2 of eye diameter; posterior nostril is a short tube, about 0.8-0.9 of anterior nostril; eyes is moderately small, eye diameter 4.3-4.7 in head length; left and right ventrolateral head ridges transversally connected on the anterior part by short transversal ridge; anterior membrane in midline depth about 2/3 of spinous ray; head canal pores large, pore ? diameter about half of the distance between pore ? and ?1; ( suborbital sensory papillae

row 5i going downwards to or near the level of row d, distance between row 5i and row d absent or much smaller than length of row 5i; body with 10-11 vertical dark brown bands present along lateral side, first in front of the first dorsal fin, last at end of the second dorsal fin, at upper edge about equal or narrower than pale interspaces in between (Ref. 124191).