Prior to its description this species was considered a geographic variant of A. iberus but the 2002 paper revealed the pair to be genetically quite distinct and also highlighted some morphological differences. It is distinguished from A. iberus by possessing 8-9 (usually 8 ) branched dorsal-fin rays (vs. 8-9, sometimes 10), 9-11 branched anal-fin rays (vs. 8-9), a deeper, more elongate body shape, noticeably shorter snout, relatively thick (vs. thin) vertical bars in males and a flank patterning consisting of a few la…