The head is short and blunt with a small, low, horizontal mouth which has fleshy lips and jaws which are equipped with bands of teeth.

[3] The back is silvery, yellowish brown fading to cream or white in the underparts.

[4] The scales on the flanks have dark centres creating a spotted effect with yellowish fins.

[3] The burrito grunt was first formally described in 1862 as Genytremus interruptus by the American ichthyologist Theodore Nicholas Gill (1837-1914) with the type locality given as Baja California.

[7] The burrito grunt is not abundant enough to be a target of commercial fisheries but when it is caught its flesh is said to palatable.