Paraberyx bowerbanki was a beryciform teleost with a broad gape and a relatively flat cranial roof. Its head construction suggests a predator capable of engulfing small fishes or invertebrates, although the fine details of its diet are unknown. The wide mouth is more consistent with capture of mobile prey than with specialised crushing or grazing.

The species is known primarily from three-dimensional London Clay skulls. A gently sloping skull roof and comparatively large dentaries give the head a broad, open-jawed appearance. These fossils document a distinctive beryciform cranial type at a time when many modern acanthomorph lineages were diversifying.