| 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 heavier, tail longer, and snout shorter (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 17 specimens): Adult height: 8.0-32.0 cm; Rings: 12-13 + 47 (45-48) Snout length: 2.6 (2.2-3.2) in head length; Dorsal fin rays: 27-28 (25-29) covering 4+1 rings; Pectoral fin rays: 15-17; Caudal fin absent; Coronet: low, triangular wedge; Spines: low, rounded bumps only. Other distinctive characters: (very) prominent rounded eye spines; often with thick fronds attached to head region; very deep body with keel (especially females); mature males have extremely prominent (usually white) brood pouch. Color pattern: pale, near white to mottled yellow to variable brown; dark spots and splotches on head and trunk; tail with alternating dark and light bands; dorsal fin mottled; males have more dark blotches than females and commonly have a yellow slash near the top of the pouch 34. |
| 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 | 25 - 31 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | other (see remark) |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 4 - 4 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 14 - 17 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 0 - 0 |