Slightly diagonal bars across upper half of body, fades to white near belly. Upper half of body is bronze, tan, and/or silver while the lower half of the body near the belly is typically white. May have a dark spot at the base of pectoral fins. Deeply notched single dorsal fin that may appear to be two separate fins, with the first spinous and the second soft. Juveniles show up in estuaries between February-May, and are translucent to white in color with a series of dark spots on its trunk, and along its dorsal side. Its tail is lanceolate (pointed), with the lower edge longer than the top edge.