ABSTRACT
Body compressed, the depth less than head length and contained 2.6–3.0 times in standard length (for fish 12–37 cm SL); body width 2.4–2.6 times in the depth. Head length 2.5–2.8 times in standard length; dorsal head profile distinctly concave, rising steeply at the nape; preorbital very narrow, its depth about 5 times in eye diameter and 30–32 times in head length; preopercle finely serrate, the serrae at the angle slightly enlarged, the lower edge smooth; opercle with middle spine inconspicuous, the upper and lower spines rudimentary; posterior nostril a large, crescentic, vertical slit; maxilla extending to below rear half of eye, no step or knob on ventral edge of maxilla; supramaxilla well developed; jaws with bands of villiform teeth; no canines; vomer and palatines with teeth. Gill rakers short, 8–11 on upper limb, 13–17 on lower limb. Dorsal fin with 10 spines and 17–19 rays, the fin origin over the opercle, the fin membranes not incised between the spines, the posterior spines longest and the soft rays even longer; anal fin with 3 spines and 9 or 10 rays; pectoral fins rounded, with 17 or 18 rays, the middle rays longest; caudal fin rounded, with 8 branched rays and 8 procurrent rays in the upper part and 7 branched rays and 8 procurrent rays in the lower part. Scales on body smooth (the ctenii greatly reduced); lateral-line scales 54–62; lateral-scale series 106–122. Pyloric caeca 13.
