 Its natural color is a splotchy pale brown, generally only becoming red when stressed and the belly is paler or even white (Lang, 2000).It has a boxy, bony head which is protected by backwards-facing spines along the front of the snout and around the eye as well as on the hind margin of the operculum (Ayling & Cox, 1982) and tapers into a laterally elongated body with 33-35 vertebrae.There are 8-10 gill rakers and 70-80 scales on its lateral line, which is uninterrupted.