Body is oblong and compressed with a pointed snout. The adipose eyelid is well-developed only on the posterior half of the eye and the straight part of the lateral line typically has 0–2 scales and 39–51 scutes. In terms of coloration, the fish is greyish-green above and silvery to white below. There is a distinct black blotch on the margin of the opercle, bordered above by a smaller white spot. The interradial membranes of the spinous dorsal fin range from pale to dark dusky. Caudal fin is yellowish, except for the upper lobe which is often dusky to black distally and the other fins are pale.