The fish has an inferior mouth, and its teeth are differentiated into large and small in the upper jaw only. The lower jaw has a band of uniformly sized villiform teeth. There are three pairs of mental pores, with the first pair opening at the base of the barbel in a common pit. The lower limb of the first gill arch has 6–9 stiff gill rakers. There are 7–12 scale rows above the lateral line to the origin of the dorsal fin and 13–18 scale rows below the lateral line to the origin of the anal fin. The scales on the head and body are cycloid (smooth). The swim bladder is hammer-shaped with 14–15 arborescent appendages along its sides. The caudal fin is slightly rhomboidal, S-shaped, or truncate. The coloration includes a black or dark brown back and flanks, a whitish or pale yellow belly, and the upper part of the rather high spinous part of the dorsal fin being black.