Blackish brown on back and sides, creamy underside; large head and huge distending mouth; large fleshy tail; white-tipped pectoral fins. Eats mostly pelagic crustaceans, some jellyfishes. Dorsal spines (total): 0; Vertebrae: 125. Body stout, tapering posteriorly, tadpole-like with larger head and tapering trunk and tail. Snout extremely short but broadly rounded. Head huge, blubbery. Mouth very broad and terminal on head, with corner extending behind the eyes. Jaws huge, protrusible anteriorly but not greatly distensible laterally, lower jaw extending to snout tip. Teeth very small, numerous, hooked . Gill slits moderately long, not reaching dorsal surface of head, internal gill slits lined with dense rows of papillose gill rakers. Eyes semicircular, with no nictitating membrane. Two dorsal fins, relatively low and angular; small anal fin; long, narrow pectoral fins; moderate-sized pelvic fin; caudal fin asymmetrical, non-lunate, with a short and strong ventral lobe; upper pre-caudal pit only; caudal peduncle without keels or ridges