Main Ref. | Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999 |
Appearance refers to | |
Bones in OsteoBase |
Specialized organs | other |
Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
Different colors | |
Remarks | Males with brood pouch; females with ovipositor (Ref. 205). Males are longer than females (Ref. 52034). |
Striking features | striking shape of body |
Body shape lateral | other |
Cross section | angular |
Dorsal head profile | |
Type of eyes | more or less normal |
Type of mouth/snout | tube-like |
Position of mouth | terminal |
Type of scales | |
Diagnosis |
Description: (based on 54 specimens): Adult height: 8.0-15.0cm. Rings: 11+40-41 (38-43). Snout length: 2.2 (1.9-2.4) in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 20 (18-22) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 17-18 (16-19). Coronet: very low, in line with arch of neck, visible as five tiny points. Spines: low and small to slightly raised. Other distinctive characters: very sharp hook-like cheek and eye spines; quite flat in appearance; narrow head; no nose spine. Color pattern: golden orange, sandy colored or totally black; may have large dark spots on the dorsolateral surface of the first, fourth and seventh trunk ring (less visible in dark specimens, and more common in males than females); some specimens ‘zebra striped’ in brown and white. |
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 | |
total |
Attributes | |
Fins number | 1 |
Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
Ventral 0 - 0 | |
Spines total | 0 - 0 |
Soft-rays total | 18 - 22 |
Adipose fin | absent |
Attributes | other (see remark) |
Fins number | 1 |
Spines total | 0 - 0 |
Soft-rays total | 4 - 4 |
Pectoral | Attributes used for locomotion |
Spines 0 | |
Soft-rays 16 - 19 | |
Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
Position absent | |
Spines 0 | |
Soft-rays 0 - 0 |