Diagnosed from other congeners in Black and Caspian Sea basins by having the following characters: barbel reaching to or beyond posterior eye margin; pectoral extending to or 1 scale in front of pelvic origin in mature males; breast scaled between pectorals, scales extending forward beyond pectoral base (at least in some individuals of any population); head length 26-28% SL; head depth 16-17% SL at nape, 48-62% HL at eye; body depth 22-23% SL; head width 15-17% SL, 58-62% HL; eye diameter 4-6% SL, 3.1-3.7 times in head depth, 1.4-1.5 times in interorbital distance (at 5-6 cm SL); caudal peduncle depth 33-36% HL (Ref. 59043).