Belongs to a clade that also includes Austrolebias viarius, A. arachan, A. adloffi, A. charrua, A. minuano, A. nigrofasciatus, A. vandenbergi, A. bellottii and A. melanoorus, which is diagnosed by having a long and triangular anal fin in females. Similar to A. bellottii and A. melanoorus in having the urogenital papilla completely attached to the anal fin in males; differs from A. bellottii in having the dorsal fin more anteriorly placed in males, a shorter anal-fin base, lesser body depth and wider basihyal; differs from A. melanoorus by the number of rostral neuromasts, degree of pelvic-fin fusion, morphology of dorsum in females, color pattern of unpaired fins in males and color pattern of flank in both sexes (Ref. 56780).