| Main Ref. | Arai, R., H. Fujikawa and Y. Nagata, 2007 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | different colors during breeding season only |
| Remarks | Nuptial coloration present in sexually mature males during the spawning season. Coloration in females does not change during spawning season, but they develop an ovipositor to deposit eggs into host mussel (Ref. 78070). |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Can be diagnosed by having the following characters: dorsal fin with iii, 9-11 rays; anal fin with iii, 9-10 rays; dorsal fin in males grayish; anal fin in nuptial males white; absence of black blotch on dorsal fin in juveniles; eggs short ellipsoid, ratio of major axis to minor axis, 1.4-1.7 (Ref. 78070). Description: D iii,9-11; A iii,8-10; P i+ 14-16; V i+7 (Ref. 78070). |
| 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 | 17 - 20 |
| total | 35 - 38 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 11 - 14 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | forked |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 11 - 13 |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 15 - 17 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position abdominal | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 8 - 8 |