Differs from other beardless congeners by the unique combination of the following characters: scales on the lateral line 48?50; scales between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line 5 ? 6, and between pelvic-fin origin and lateral line 3 ? 4; scales around caudal peduncle 12-14; barbels absent, but a pair of rudimentary rostral barbels present in small individuals; dorsal fin with 81/2 ? 91/2 branched rays; caudal peduncle relatively stouter; length between snout tip to posterior margin of eye longer than body depth at anal fin origin; head length longer than body depth at dorsal fin origin; prepelvic length 50.0% ? 53.7% of standard length; pre-anus length 58.9% ? 63.9% of standard length; body width 16.7% ? 19.6% of standard length; body depth at dorsal fin 19.2% ? 22.6% of standard length (Ref. 81998).

Description: Dorsal-fin rays iv,8½, iv,9½, ; Anal-fin rays iii,5; pectoral-fin rays i,16-17; pelvic-fin rays i,9 (Ref. 81998).