Jeffrey's goby is a sediment dwelling small goby. Its most distinctive feature is the elongated second ray of the first dorsal fin, clearly shown on this male in breeding colouration, however this is not always so easy to see and it is very easy to confuse Jeffrey's goby with the painted goby, especially as both may have blue marking on the first dorsal fin too. The painted goby appears to have a slightly different head and body shape and the posture it adopts is also different to Jeffrey's goby. Such nuances are difficult to appreciate without careful examination of these fishes in the wild.


Not all Jeffrey's gobies show similar colouring and often they can be a flecked with rust coloured markings, and the elongated fin ray can be difficult to see clearly.