The fish has a rounded and highly compressed body, with adults displaying a nearly vertical forehead and a distinctive hump on the nape. There are five pores on each side of the lower jaw, and the anal fin consists of three spines and 21–26 soft rays. The coloration is yellowish-silvery or dusky, featuring a black bar through the eye and another dark bar extending from the dorsal fin origin across the rear edge of the operculum to the belly. Typically, a black blotch is present on the belly, enclosed by the latter dark bar, and an additional smaller black vertical streak often appears at the origin of the anal fin. The median fins exhibit a dusky yellow color with black margins posteriorly.