Banded kokopu the dorsal and anal fins are positioned close to the tail fin, which is short and square. The caudal peduncle is short and deep, with thick fleshy flanges which join the tail fin. Adults are usually a dark, earthy brown or olive brown, with pale yellow vertical bands along the body. The belly is light coloured and unpatterned. Behind the operculum and above the pectoral fin is a silver or white mark, and sometimes a darker mark behind this. The bands either fade out top and bottom, or fork and crisscross the back of the fish. In small fish the
Yunnanilus macrogaster a short lateral line which has 6–10 pores and a line of pores on the head. The caudal peduncle is around 1.4 times as long as it is deep and its eyes have a diameter of slightly less than one fifth of the head length. It grows to a standard length of 63.2 mm. The body is yellowish with an irregular pattern of brown spots on its back and flanks with the dorsal surface of the head being darker and there is a dark patch on the operculum to the rear of the eye. The fins are hyaline and the