Slender and firm-bodied, the quagga catshark has a short and flattened head with a pointed snout.
The slightly protruding tip of the snout is not upturned like in some other Halaelurus species.
The anterior rims of the nostrils bear triangular flaps of skin.
The small, horizontally oval eyes are placed high on the head and have rudimentary nictitating membranes; below the eyes are thick ridges, and behind them are tiny spiracles.
The rather large mouth is curved, with the upper teeth exposed when closed.
There are short furrows at the corners of the mouth.
The jaws contain 26–28 upper and 27 lower tooth rows on each side; in addition, there are three tooth rows at the upper symphysis (jaw midpoint) and one row at the lower.
The teeth have three cusps.
The five pairs of gill slits are placed higher than the level of the mouth; the fifth pair are smaller than the rest.

The moderately large and rounded pectoral fins are positioned fairly close to the pelvic fins.
Adult males have thin, tapering claspers with a denticle-covered knob on the outer side near the tip.
The first dorsal fin is placed just behind the pelvic fin bases, while the larger second dorsal fin is placed just behind the anal fin.
The anal fin is larger than the second dorsal fin and comparable in size to the pelvic fins.
The caudal fin has a small but discernible lower lobe and a large upper lobe with a notch in its trailing margin.
The thick skin is covered by dermal denticles, which have arrowhead-shaped crowns with a central ridge and three posterior teeth.
This shark has a striking dorsal color pattern consisting of over 20 narrow, dark brown vertical bars on a light brown background; the bars run from the head to the tail and extend onto the dorsal fins.
The underside is off-white, and the pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins have pale trailing margins.
The largest known specimen is 37 cm (15 in) long.
Slender and firm-bodied, the quagga catshark has a short and flattened head with a pointed snout. The slightly protruding tip of the snout is not upturned like in some other Halaelurus species. The anterior rims of the nostrils bear triangular flaps of skin. The small, horizontally oval eyes are placed high on the head and have rudimentary nictitating membranes; below the eyes are thick ridges, and behind them are tiny spiracles. The rather large mouth is curved, with the upper teeth exposed when closed. There are short furrows at the corners of the mouth. The jaws contain 26–28 upper and 27 lower tooth rows on each side; in addition, there are three tooth rows at the upper symphysis (jaw midpoint) and one row at the lower. The teeth have three cusps. The five pairs of gill slits are placed higher than the level of the mouth; the fifth pair are smaller than the rest.
The moderately large and rounded pectoral fins are positioned fairly close to the pelvic fins. Adult males have thin, tapering claspers with a denticle-covered knob on the outer side near the tip. The first dorsal fin is placed just behind the pelvic fin bases, while the larger second dorsal fin is placed just behind the anal fin. The anal fin is larger than the second dorsal fin and comparable in size to the pelvic fins. The caudal fin has a small but discernible lower lobe and a large upper lobe with a notch in its trailing margin. The thick skin is covered by dermal denticles, which have arrowhead-shaped crowns with a central ridge and three posterior teeth. This shark has a striking dorsal color pattern consisting of over 20 narrow, dark brown vertical bars on a light brown background; the bars run from the head to the tail and extend onto the dorsal fins. The underside is off-white, and the pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins have pale trailing margins. The largest known specimen is 37 cm (15 in) long.
Quagga catshark