The following unique combination of characters are useful to diagnose this species from all congeners: snout dark brown with unpigmented, well-defined, rostrocaudally elongate ellipse anterior to each naris; predorsal region darkly pigmented with five unpigmented spots arranged as anteriorly pointed chevron with three anteriormost spots anterior of dorsal fin and two posteriormost spots lateral to and coequal with insertion of dorsal-fin spine; a wide, obliquely transverse, darkly pigmented bar (saddle-like) extending from insertions of pectoral and pelvic fins through anterior half of dorsal-fin base, rays, and membrane; caudal fin with anterior half of membrane and rays lacking pigment; an irregularly slender or broad transversal bar extending around caudal peduncle just posterior of anal fin; and a slender mid-lateral stripe extending from oblique transversal bar through caudalpeduncle bar to caudal-fin base. Combination of the two latter color features forms a unique rostrocaudally elongate cross along most of the caudal peduncle. This species further differs from all congeners except Hisonotus chromodontus, H. luteofrenatus, and H. insperatus by having a functional V-shaped spinelet (Ref. 91046).