This species is distinguished from its Australian congeners S. jardinii and S. leichardti by possessing a lower number of lateral line scales (21-26 vs 32-36).

It occurs naturally in a number of colour forms of which three were elevated to distinct species status in 2003, but the current majority view is that all represent S. formosus pending a detailed review. Kottelat (2013) mentions that the red form may…