Distinguished by having the following characters: a deep concave, ‘U’-shaped interorbital trench; the bony interorbital about half pupil-diameter in width; with a slight groove posterodorsal to the eye; without median predorsal scales, sides of nape covered with small scales reaching to or near to the eyes; cheek and operculum without scales; base of pectoral-fin with oval, moderate-sized scales; prepelvic area with 5-6 rows of cycloid scales, isthmus naked anteriorly, with one slightly enlarged scale on the membrane between the bases of the pelvic fins; central 6-13 pectoral rays branched, uppermost and lowermost rays unbranched; fifth pelvic-fin ray branched once dichotomously and about 60-75% length of the fourth; all other rays usually with one sequential branch, basal membrane connecting the two pelvic fins only at the base; second dorsal spine longest, usually filamentous, extending at most to midway along the base of the second dorsal fin in Australian material; D2 usually I,10; A usually I, 9; nape crest fleshy from the first dorsal origin to above the operculum; when alive, head and body red, preserved yellow, the head with a thin vertical grey (bluish grey in life) bar from the anteroventral margin of the eye to the middle of the jaws and a second bar extending more-or-less vertically downward onto cheek from about the middle of the eye (often persisting in preserved material as faint grey bars); orbit rimmed with a thin band of melanophores, more distinct dorsally but faded in preserved material (Ref. 100726).