| Main Ref. | Springer, V.G., 1988 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | different morphology in juveniles and adults |
| Different colors | different colors in juveniles and adults |
| Remarks | Males and females have meristic similarity but differ in head ventral surface color pattern. Males with dark cresentic marks or longitudinal pair of spots never found in females. Though both may have pale version of these markings or have uniformly dusky ventral surface of head. Also, females smaller, caudal-fin lobe never elongate, and dorsal-fin elements shorter than in males (Ref. 5296). |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | elongated |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Description: Dorsal fin XII (rarely XIII),13-15 (usually 14), with deep notch between spinous and ray portions; anal fin II,15-17; pectoral rays 12-14 (usually 13); pelvic fin I, 3; caudal-fin segmented rays 13. Body depth 4.9-5.4 in SL at anal-fin origin. Vertebrae 10 + 21-23 (usually 22); incisors and anterior canine teeth look very similar, 41-49; posterior canines 1 on each side, sometimes absent. Lateral line without pores, ends below dorsal spine 9-10. Anterior nostril with cirrus present only on posterior rim. Overall pale grey or dusky brown, ventral paler, with dorsal and ventral dark stripes narrowly spaced. Eyes with narrow yellow ring around the pupil and yellow streaks on iris. Interorbital region with bilaterally paired spots and sometimes a median spot. Dark stripe from eyes to posterior edge of operculum continuous with the ventral dark stripe on body. Dorsal-fin ray portion with suprabasal stripe, fine and dusky; anal fin dusky but pale distally in some mature males; caudal fin dusky with basal half-moon mark (Ref. 5296, 90102). |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 10 - 10 |
| total | 31 - 33 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 12 - 13 |
| Soft-rays total | 13 - 15 |
| Adipose fin |
| Attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 2 - 2 |
| Soft-rays total | 15 - 17 |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 12 - 14 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position | |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 3 - 3 |