Arched back and deep body. Mouth inferior and teeth differentiated into large and small in upper jaw only. Teeth in lower jaw uniform similar to large teeth in the upper jaw. Sagitta possess a tadpole shaped impression and caudal fin rounded or bluntly rhomboid. The Swimbladder is carrot shaped and with 15-20 pairs of arborescent appendages. Body dark with numerous oblique wavy black stripes reaching down the flanks to belly