Three dark vertical bands from nape, the first through eye, the second along the edge of the preopercle and the third down to the base of the pectoral fins; Dorsal fin with 8 spines increasing in length from a small anterior spine to a long posterior one; soft dorsal rays 14, much higher than spinous part and with the anterior ray produced into a short filament, the third ray prolonged into a long simple filament which extends past the caudal fin and the fourth and fifth rays also extended to beyond the hypural joint; anal fin with 3 slender spines and 12 soft rays, the second ray prolonged beyond the caudal fin and the third ray almost as long in small specimens.