This species, characterized by a large size and elongate body, features a terminal and large mouth with the upper jaw extending backward below the posterior half of the eye. The jaws meet evenly in front, without a chin barbel. Teeth are differentiated into large and small, but not canine-like. Gill rakers are slender, slightly shorter than gill filaments. The dorsal fin has X spines, a notch, and I spine with 25-27 soft rays. The anal fin has II spines and 7 soft rays, with a short, slender second spine. Scales are cycloid on the snout and below the eye, ctenoid elsewhere. The lateral line scales reach the tip of the caudal fin. The swim bladder is carrot-shaped with 22-34 pairs of arborescent appendages branching in a ragged fan shape. The sagitta has a tadpole-shaped impression. The coloration includes greyish above and silvery white below, faint oblique stripes on the upper body, a pale yellow longitudinal stripe above the lateral line, a black spot at the pectoral fin base, a dark blotch on the gill cover, and a dark distal portion of the spinous dorsal fin.