Head large; eyes large; snout short and bluntly pointed. Body elongated, tapering abruptly from the first dorsal-fin base. Light organ rather short, extending in front of the anus within the body wall as a flattened, elongate diverticulum falling well short of the pelvic fin bases. Scales rather large and deciduous. Color is brownish to swarthy; the trunk bluish to violet; the fins dusky to blackish. A prominent blackish area behind the pectoral fin bases. The mouth and gill cavities pale.