Body moderately deep and compressed; head large and pointed; teeth elongate and compressed, resembling incisors; dorsal fin contiguous, with 12 spines; posterior rays of dorsal and anal fins forming filamentous lobes; lower branch of first gill arch with 9 to 10 gill rakers; variable, depending on size and sex; body brown, black, red or orange, but less than 5 percent of the population is entirely black (Ref. 55763).