Diagnosis: Body slender, its depth 18-27% of standard length; pre-pelvic scutes not strongly keeled, beginning under or behind base of last pectoral finray, 7-10 pre-pelvic and 9-12 post-pelvic scutes, belly rounded; snout bluntly rounded; lower jaw not projecting, exactly meeting tip of upper when mouth closed, deepest at mid-point of jaw, with small saw-like teeth on each side; pre-maxillae with small teeth pointing downward; maxilla very slender, its blade over 3 times as long as deep, upper edge ridged, lower edge without denticulations; posterior supra-maxilla very small, spatulate, its shaft about as long as its blade; lower gillrakers 14-16; silver stripe on flank, narrower anteriorly (Ref. 188, 28136). It differs from Potamothrissa whiteheadi in having a distinct shaft to the posterior supra-maxilla and lacking dermal denticles on the snout, and from P. acutirostris in its blunt snout and fewer gillrakers, 14-16 vs. 16-18 (Ref. 188, 28136). Other pellonulines lack saw-like teeth at the sides of the lower jaw (Ref. 188).

Description: Body slender, its depth 18-27% of standard length (Ref. 188). Caudal peduncle 1.2-1.5 times as long as deep (Ref. 1878, 93833). Snout obtusely pointed, projecting very slightly beyond lower jaw, not quite as long as eye, which is 3 times in head length and slightly exceeds interorbital width; adipose eyelid feebly developed; maxillary extending to below anterior third of eye; no strongly enlarged teeth (Ref. 1878, 41594). Gillrakers slender, shorter than branchial filaments, 14-16 on lower part of anterior arch (Ref. 188, 1878, 93833). Dorsal fin with 13-15 rays, originating slightly in advance of pelvic fins, much nearer end of snout than base of caudal fin; anal fin with 16-20 rays, twice as distant from base of pelvic fins as from caudal fin, and originating a long way behind vertical of dorsal; pectoral fin 60-66% of head length, not reaching pelvic fins; caudal forked, with pointed lobes (Ref. 1878, 41594, 93833). Scales: 39-45 scales in longitudinal series, 8-10 in transverse series (Ref. 1878, 41594, 93833). With 7-10 keeled pre-pelvic scutes and 9-12 post-pelvic scutes; pre-pelvic scutes not strongly keeled, beginning under or behind base of last pectoral finray (Ref. 188, 28136).

Colouration: Body yellowish, head and a broad lateral band silvery (Ref. 1878). Silver stripe on flank, narrower anteriorly (Ref. 188).