Astronesthes richardsoni chin is ribbon-like and lacks a bulb or swelling at its tip. The dorsal fin has 12 to 14 soft rays and the anal fin has 13 to 18. The origin of the dorsal fin is behind the insertion of the pelvic fins. There is a dorsal adipose fin anterior to the caudal peduncle, and a small ventral adipose fin just anterior to the anus. There are two rows of photophores (luminous spots) on each side of the underside of the fish, numerous other photophores on the head and body and a luminous patch on the edge of the preoperculum;
Caudal luring often in juvenile snakes and is most prevalent in vipers and pitvipers, but it also occurs in boas, pythons, tropidophiids, colubrids, and elapids of the genus Acanthophis. Caudal luring has been used as an experimental paradigm to investigate stimulus control and visual perception in viperid snakes. It has been suggested that caudal luring was involved in the evolution of the rattlesnake rattle. Attempts have been made to test this hypothesis, however, the evidence is contentious. There have been dubious reports of caudal luring and concomitant speculations. Prey luring in general is confounded by false interpretation. The difficulty is that there