| 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). Tail length in males greater than in 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 23 specimens): Adult height: 13.0-20.0cm. Rings: 11+34 (33-36). Snout length: 2.1 (1.9-2.3) in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 18 (16-20) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 17 (16-18). Coronet: high to very high, with an expanded rounded top (larger and more fluted in females, smaller and more rounded in males). Spines: low, rounded bumps only. Other distinctive characters: very thick rings; narrow body; usually double rounded cheek spines; long snout (about 1/2 head length); prominent rounded eye spine. Color pattern: usually pale with net-like pattern of reticulating brown lines over body and tail; may be yellow, orange, black, purple, white, cream or pink; brown ring around spines; striped snout; dark vertical line edging either side of dorsal surface of trunk. |
| 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 | 16 - 20 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | other (see remark) |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total |
| Pectoral | Attributes used for locomotion |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 16 - 18 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |