| Diagnosis: |
Dorsal spines (total): 18-18; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-11; Anal spines: 5-5; Anal soft rays: 8-9; Vertebrae: 34-34. Diagnosis: sesamoid bone in the labial ligament present; 2 pores at neurocranial lateral line foramina 0; body depth 23.4–26.2% SL; head length 31.0–33.7% SL; 34 vertebra; interorbital width 17.4–24.5% HL; usually 11 dorsal fin rays; 73-79 longitudinal line scales; 10–12 gill rakers on the first ceratobranchial; color pattern based on three rows of irregular spots; fins bright yellow; very dark, large spots on the flanks, without additional small spots or a complex pattern of spots and worm lines on the head (Ref. 76873).
Description: elongate, moderately shallow-bodied species (body depth 23.4–26.2, mean 24.7% SL), with large mouth and sleek form characteristic of an open-water piscivore; greatest body depth at about base of 5th dorsal fin spine; head length 31.0–33.7, mean 32.4% SL; head profile slightly convex, rising smoothly to dorsal fin base; lower jaw prognathous, with both outer and inner row teeth pointed unicuspids in both jaws, a single series of enlarged, recurved, procumbent caniniform teeth (8 premaxillary and 6 dentary) situated on anterior third of both jaws, with largest teeth furthest from symphysis; posterior to large teeth single rows of slightly enlarged caniniform teeth run almost whole length of dentigerous arms of both dentary and premaxilla, outer row on premaxilla with 49–60 teeth; small, caniniform inner teeth in 5 to 9 irregular rows nearest symphysis, tapering to single row posteriorly and running most of length of dentigerous arms of premaxilla and dentary; cheek usually naked, but 4–5 cheek scales observed in 3 of 13 individuals; lower pharyngeal jaw longer than wide, with slight interdigitation along ventral suture and about 24 teeth in posterior tooth row, all slender and beveled or hooked; gill rakers slender, elongate, non-denticulate, with up to 4 subsidiary branches; no rakers present on hypobranchial; upper branch of lateral line with 51-67 scales, lower with 26-45 scales; flank scales small, ctenoid, regularly imbricating; considerable overlap (16–20 scales) between upper and lower branches of lateral line; opercle and subopercle heavily scaled; small scales on belly and small, deeply embedded scales on chest; caudal fin with scales extending more than half its length; pectoral and pelvic fins short, terminating well ahead of anus; first ray in pelvic fin is longest; spines in dorsal fin increase gradually in length posteriorly until about 7th spine, after which they remain constant; anal fin spines gradually increase posteriorly through entire series; dorsal and anal fins come to a point and terminate at about end of the caudal peduncle; no produced rays; caudal fin large and emarginate, with 14 branched rays; infraorbital series comprised of broad, plate-like lachrymal with 6 large sensory canal pores, lacking infraorbitals adjacent to lachrymal; dermosphenotic present; labial ossification present; single supraneural present; supraoccipital crest well-developed and increasing in depth posteriorly, with sharply-angled posterior edge; no frontal ridge present; frontal shelf well developed and extending anteriorly beyond neurocranial lateral line foramina 2; pre-orbital process of lateral ethmoid rotated posteromedially; post-orbital process of sphenotic followed by a large, spoon-shaped wing; frontal and ethmoidvomer continuous in profile, without abrupt drop-off (Ref. 76873).
Coloration: No sexual dimorphism in coloration (Ref. 76873). Life specimens: background body color brownish-tan, with 3 broken white to silvery-blue stripes composed of irregular blotchy spots; superimposed over this pattern are 3 rows of 7-9 large, dark-brown spots stretching from above opercle to caudal flexure; large spots irregular, with intervening space between them horizontally about as large as the spots; vertically, some spots merge together partially, though some are staggered irregularly resulting in misalignment between horizontal rows; largest spots in lower row, which is superimposed over the lower branch of lateral line at about center of flank, while middle row of slightly smaller spots is superimposed over upper lateral line branch; top row of spots sits along dorsal fin base, with spots stretching partially onto dorsal fin; opercle with a patch of lavender and a black blotch posteriorly, belly white, eyes with bright yellow dorsal and ventral bordering; bluish-white, thin line running below eye from lachrymal to whitish patch on cheek; all fins with bright yellow; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins with rows of large yellow maculae interspersed with small patches of white; yellow maculae blend together vertically to form series of yellow bands; pectoral fin pale yellow on the base (Ref. 76873).
Preserved specimens: coloration uniform, light yellow-tan with brown spots in pattern described above (Ref. 76873). |
