Distinguished easily from its congeners, except Phalloceros leptokeras and Phalloceros aspilos by the following characters: presence a lateral ramus of the female urogenital papilla, female urogenital papilla left turned; large sickle like hook on the gonopodial appendix located in its inner surface and close to its base; and absence of inconspicuous vertical bars along body sides. Differs from Phalloceros aspilos by having lateral spot and by the predorsal length of males 57.5-59.8 (vs. 54.8-56.3 % SL), and from Phalloceros leptokeras by the lateral spot normally pigmented, vertically elongated, and horizontally covering the length corresponding to one scale length and located on the 16th, 17th, 18th or 19th scale of longitudinal line (vs. densely pigmented, rectangle like, horizontally covering the length corresponding to two or three scales length located on the 14th or 15th (very rarely 16th) scale of longitudinal line (Ref. 76852).

Description: pectoral fin with 6-7 branched rays; longitudinal series of scales 27-29; transverse series of scales 7 (Ref. 76852).