The body has a moderate depth and the dorsal profile of the head is convex. Snout is short and blunt with a terminal to inferior mouth. The 3rd-5th dorsal spines are approximately equal in size. The 3rd anal spine is the strongest and longest. The body exhibits alternating brownish-red and silvery-white stripes of roughly equal width. There is a triangular streak of brownish-red on the cheek from the eye to the corner of the preopercle. The spinous dorsal fin is red with white-tipped spines and each membrane. There is an elongate brown spot beneath the soft portion, a large quadrangular whitish blotch on the dorsal fin, and a roundish blotch above the base of the soft portion of the anal fin. The upper and lower edges of the caudal fin have a red to brownish-red band with a very narrow bluish-white margin.