Body deep (becoming deeper with age) and compressed; mouth small; jaw teeth small, villiform, and only slightly hooked; decreasing in number with age but always present; lower branch of first gill arch with 13 to 15 gill rakers; dorsal fin with 6 spines followed by another spine and 19 to 21 soft rays (VI+I, 19-21); anterior lobes of the second dorsal and anal fins elongated; body silvery with 4 to 6 pale yellow vertical bars that become dark after death; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins yellowish (Ref. 55763).