Can be distinguished from its congeners by possessing the following unique combination of characters: body dark brown, dorsum with 10 thin cream bars, side with cream bars splitting into smaller bars, head dorsum brown with thin cream reticulate pattern; absence of secondary rostrum; absence of sublacrymal groove; presence of deep postoral pouch; presence of subopercular groove; gill slit slanted, gill opening above 6th pectoral branched fin ray; pectoral fin origin level about frontal margin of eye; an elongate rounded snout when viewed dorsally; abdomen without scales; lateral line with 70-73 scales; pectoral fin overlapping anterior of pelvic fin; pelvic fin not overlapping anal fin origin, adpressed dorsal fin not overlapping level of anal fin origin (Ref. 57871).