It has an elongated, moderately deep, slightly compressed body covered with large scales and lacking a lateral line. The head is flat with a blunt snout, a small slightly downward-facing mouth, and a well-developed adipose eyelid covering most of the eye. It has two dorsal fins, moderately long pectoral fins, and a deeply forked caudal fin. The back is greenish to bluish-grey, fading to silvery sides marked with dark horizontal streaks, while the fins are generally greyish with a darker edge on the tail.

It looks like Mugil cephalus (Flathead grey mullet), as both species have an elongated, moderately deep body covered with large scales, two well-separated dorsal fins, and a deeply forked caudal fin. They also lack a lateral line and have a well-developed adipose eyelid covering much of the eye. The two species can be distinguished by differences in mouth shape, head profile, and gill raker characteristics.