Snout short, narrow, bluntly pointed; terminal snout scute developed but not conspicuously; suborbital ridge low; underside of snout, most of the suborbital region, and anterior half of mandible without scales; cephalic pores of the lateralis system prominent. Pyloric caeca 24 to 58. Body scales densely covered with conical to narrowly lanceolate spinules in short, slightly convergent rows. Overall color is swarthy, blackish ventrally, with bluish tinge on abdominal region; oral and branchial cavities generally pale with some blackish areas; fins dusky to blackish, first dorsal fin slightly paler basally.