Diagnosis: body moderately elongated, steep and rounded front profile, snout rounded, caudal fin rounded; one tubular infraorbital bone; nape and opercle scaled, cheek with 1 or 2 scale rows, at least on the posterior part; females with a few, silvery colored scales around the genital papilla; a black longitudinal body stripe, not extended into the caudal fin (Ref. 54511).

Description: gracile (body depth 23.3-33.4%, mean 30.9% SL); head length 23.4-32.8% SL; dorsal head profile rounded to snout; snout short, 21.0-34.3% HL, rounded; head relatively high (head depth 57.5-71.2%, mean 63.6% HL); ventral body wall gently rounded to caudal peduncle, which is short (11.5-16.0%, mean 13.5% SL) and ranges from slightly deeper than long to slightly longer than deep; 6-9 tuberculate rakers on hypobranchial and ceratobranchial, 3-7 short epibranchial rakers; first pelvic ray longest in males, second ray equal or slightly longer than first in females; caudal fin rounded in both sexes; males usually 15-25% larger than females, with soft dorsal and anal rays more elongated (Ref. 81260). Hypurals 3+4 fused with the urostyle, but hypurals 1+2 remain autogenous (Ref. 72415).

Coloration: head and body middle to reddish brown; dark scaleless spot on the outer edge of opercle, only poorly visible in some behavioural situations; lips orange to brown; one dark longitudinal stripe sometimes visible on sides (in stressed, submissive, breeding and guarding individuals), at about height of lower lateral line, from posterior edge of the eye to end of caudal peduncle, but not extending into caudal fin; one dark bar from the anterior edge of the eye to the middle of upper lip; most dorsal body parts darker than rest of body, in extremely stressed individuals with seven black blotches below dorsal fin base; upper edge of eye red; males with white margin and sometimes red submargin in posterior half of dorsal fin; posterior parts of dorsal fin, caudal fin and posterior parts of anal fin normally with some small reddish and pale blue dots in soft parts; body scales with greyish margins; female dorsal fin with thin black to grey margin, followed by a white to silvery submargin, sometimes with pale blotches and/or small black spots in soft parts; other fins without special patterns or marks; lachrymal, cheeks, opercles orange to red; belly region pale rosy to dark rosy or violet in ripe females (Ref. 81260). A silvery genital spot, covering about 2-3 scales on each side of the body, around genital papilla (Ref. 54511, 81260).