Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; amphidromous; depth range 10 - 110 m . Tropical; 26°C - 29°C ; 30°N - 36°S, 27°E - 170°W

Maturity: Lm 10.7  range ? - ? cm Max length : 28.0 cm TL male/unsexed; ; common length : 18.0 cm TL male/unsexed;

Dorsal spines (total): 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 16; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 14 - 15. This species is distinguished by the following characters: body very deep, compressed, with a strongly humped back; body depth 1.7-1.9 times in standard length; mouth pointing downward when protracted; gill rakers short and fleshy, less than 1/2 length of corresponding gill lamellae, total gill rakers on first gill arch 18-22; head and breast scaleless; tubed scales on lateral line 61-66. Colour of adults, back greyish, belly silvery and many parallel close-set faint bars on back; usually a dark brown saddle on caudal peduncle; axil of pectoral fins grey to black; margin of soft dorsal fin black; both caudal-fin lobes with broad dusky margins; pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins colourless to yellowish. In juveniles (5-7 cm TL), thin, closely arranged, grey vertical lines descending from back to about midheight; membrane between anal-fin spines conspicuously yellow; posterior margin of caudal-fin lobes pale yellow and dusky; other fins hyaline; snout dotted black . Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep;  Cross section: compressed.