Astroblepus quispei is distinguished from other congeners by the following characters:

maxillary wattle doesn't reach beyond the oral disk; first pectoral radius is shorter than head

longitude and has 10 - 11 soft branching radii, 7 of them associated to the third radial; first radius

of the pelvic doesn't go beyond the anus; pre-maxillary with two and a half internal rows of bicuspid teeth; the outermost row with 10 conic teeth; first simple radii of caudal fin with extensions; 23 free vertebrae, the fifth cerato-branchial bone with 5 teeth in the anterior region (ref. 93748).