This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: deep body, with greatest depth anterior to midpoint and with moderately rapid posterior taper; anterior profile of snout is smoothly rounded; second ocular-side pectoral-fin ray is filamentous and shorter than greatest body depth; conspicuous, finger-like filaments 1-5 on inner anteroventral margin of fleshy skinfold on ocular-side lower jaw; no scales on blind sides of dorsal- and anal-fin rays; eyes relatively large with well-developed pupillary operculum; interorbital space relatively narrow (usually < diameter of lower eye) with 2-4 scales; often with 4-6 scales in diagonal row between anteroventral margin of lower (non-migrated) eye and dorsal margin of rostral flap above mouth; gillrakers on first arch long, pointed, robust, with first and sometimes second raker on upper limb overlapping dorsalmost raker(s) on lower limb of first arch; meristic values relatively low (37-38 total vertebrae, 86-97 dorsal- and 59-67 anal-fin rays, 64-82 lateral-line pores, usually 23-24 supracranial pterygiophores, 14-20 total gillrakers on first gill arch, 4-6 on upper limb of first arch); head relatively large and wide; caudal peduncle wide. Colouration: light-brown to light gray ocular-side background with numerous, minute, pinkish spots over entire surface, and with many scales on ocular side of head and body with black pigment on bases of ctenii; the dorsal and anal fins in both sexes with either a pattern of a single darkly pigmented ray alternating with 4-8 lighter-pigmented rays, or with rays uniformly pigmented; black pigmentation on inner lining of ocular-side opercle and entire roof of mouth (Ref. 123823).