The male reaches 14.7 cm in length and is a demersal species of fish. It has four dorsal soft rays and 56–63 anal softrays with 48–52 vertebrae present. The body and head are mottled greyish brown, with a uniformly convex predorsal profile. There are two pairs of barbels and the mouth is terminal, with the lower jaw longer than the upper. The eyes are small and lack a freeorbital margin. A hazy black blotch is present in the humeral region with scattered melanophores on the dorsal, pectoral and caudal fins. The anal fin has greyish-brown mottling, while the pelvic fin is hyaline.