Body oblong and compressed. Two barbels on chin. Snout short, its dorsal profile steep. Posterior end of upper jaw reaching to below anterior margin of eye. Lower jaw with villiform teeth, but upper jaw toothless. No spines on opercle. Eye large, interorbital space wide and flat. Caudal fin forked. Body red, becoming silver ventrally; two longitudinal yellow stripes on body; first dorsal fin yellowish olive basally, black distally; other fins olivaceous red.
Distribution:
From Cape Cod to Suriname.
Remarks:
This species is separated from other Atlantic goatfishes by having no spines on the opercle, 8 spines in the first dorsal fin, snout profile steep, and no teeth in the upper jaw.