 The five to seven spiny fin rays on its first dorsal fin and the thorns on each of the gill covers have venom glands at their basis.⁠
On its dorsal side "Trachinus draco" is coloured in an greenish brown with a varying count of dark marks on the upper side of the head.The flank is hued in a yellowish brown with bright blue and yellow discontinuous stripes that run crooked to the front of the fish.⁠
Additionally oblique black stripes can be found laterally.This pattern is described as tiger-like by Horst Müller.⁠

The body dimensions of "Trachinus draco" are described very differently by different authors and seem to differ based on the geographical location were the study has been carried out.