Diagnosed by the following characters: iv simple anal-fin rays; 13-15 teeth on the dentary; 6 teeth in the inner premaxillary row; 3 teeth in the outer premaxillary row (except from Hyphessobrycon heterorhabdus and H. loretoensis which have 3-4). Distinguished from H. loretoensis by having 7 pored lateral-line scales (vs. 9-10), 5 scales between the lateral line and the dorsal-fin origin (vs. 3-4); from H. agulha by having 30-31 lateral scales (vs. 33-34); 9 predorsal scales (vs. 10); 4 maxillary teeth (vs. 0-1); in life a red lateral stripe above the dark lateral stripe that extends from the posterior part of the opercle to the caudal peduncle (vs. absent) and by the presence of bony hooks in mature males only on the anal fin (vs. hooks on all fins, including the caudal) (Ref. 93393).