The skin is covered by rather large dermal denticles, which become more tightly packed and overlapping with age; each denticle bears three to five horizontal ridges and five posterior teeth. This species is grey above and white below, with a faint pale band on the flanks. The second dorsal fin and lower caudal fin lobe darken at the tips, particularly in juveniles. An albino individual was caught off Queensland in 1987, which was the first known example of albinism in a requiem shark. An adult pigeye shark typically measures long, while the largest individuals reach long.