This species is distinguished from Nemacheilus hutjertjuensis [= Triplophysa hutjertjuensis] by the having the following characters: caudal fin from truncate to flangeate, never emarginate, as body length increases (vs. emarginate to truncate, never flangeate); a deep constriction at the middle, the anterior part usually larger than the posterior (vs. just in contrast generally); lips strongly wrinkled and with papillae (vs. weak and absent); dorsal base length 10.20 (8.36-11.80) in body length (vs. 8.17 (7.00-10.98)); even with the smallest depth at the origin, peduncle is straight and smooth (vs. inclined down backward, with that at the middle); vertebrae 4+34+1=39 (vs. 4+36-37+1=41-42;7); and a dark longitudinal stripe on the back, anterior to the dorsal, and the same one along the lateral line anteriorly and along the axis of body posteriorly (vs. a very narrow line on the back, quite clear, and a lot of maculates in two rows, one clear, along the lateral line and the body axis, and another, less clear, alongside it superiorly) (Ref. 118554).