The fish has a small, inferior mouth, and its sagitta, swim bladder, mental pores (with occasional thickened skin around chin pores), and dentition are similar to those of Johnius amblycephalus. The head and front part of the body have cycloid scales, while the rear part of the body features finely ctenoid scales. The gill rakers are very short and stumpy, numbering 7–10 on the lower limb of the first gill arch. There are 7–10 scale rows above the lateral line to the origin of the dorsal fin and 12–17 scale rows below the lateral line to the origin of the anal fin. The caudal fin is either truncate or weakly S-shaped. The upper two-thirds of the body are dark grey or brown with a pale yellow streak along the lateral line, while the belly is whitish. The upper two-thirds of the first dorsal fin are black.