Upper flank and head steel-grey and lowerflank and belly pale yellow or white. Iris silvery with agrey exterior ring and a narrow golden interior ring. Peritoneumdark brown. Mouth inferior and horseshoeshaped.Lips fleshy, with tubercles but without a freemedian lobe on lower lip. Anterior barbel extends backto middle of snout and posterior one to posterior eyemargin. Last unbranched ray strong and 2/3 of its lengthdentitioned. Gill raker reach one below or slightly furtherwhen appressed. Pharyngeal teeth hooked and spoonlike.Gut long and complexly coiled with several anteriorand posterior loops. No pelvic axillary scale. Semimigratoryform live in estuaries. Prefers warm, deep,slowly-flowing water with gravel or sand. Maximum age8 years, total length 1 m and weight 15 kg. Main spawningruns in September-October and April. Maturity at 3-5years. Spring migrants spawn that summer but autumnmigrants overwinter to spawn following spring or summer.Sex ratio 3males:1female. Absolute fecundity up to193,600 eggs with diameters of up to 1.8 mm. Food includefilamentous algae with associated invertebrates insmaller fish and small fishes and frogs in larger ones.