adults blue-grey with bright to golden orange sports
sometime forming line on head ; inside mouth bright orange to red
dorsal fin bordered with black anal and pelvic fin tipped with black :juveniles dark brown to black above , divided into 3 or more broad longitudinal stripes by narrower pearl blue interspaces;silvery yellow below;dorsal and caudal fin yellow with black patches and broken stripes; stripes increase with age and break up into small rounded spots before fading on body and fading on body and sometimes on caudal fin