Snout long and sharply pointed. Head ridges not strongly developed. Scales thin, deciduous; the spinules on the body scales short, broad-based, widely spaced, arranged in quincunx order. Color is light brown, with irregular blotching or mottling on the back and upper sides; the belly silvery; median nasal process black; the mouth and gill cavities whitish; the fins dusky or punctate; the first dorsal fin blackish.