| Main Ref. | Trewavas, E., 1983 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | males alike females |
| Different colors | different colors during breeding season only |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | short and / or deep |
| Cross section | compressed |
| Dorsal head profile | more or less straight |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | ctenoid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Mature females with an overall golden hue; males with the flanks a pale blue. Swollen and brilliant white lateral parts of the lower lip of the mature male. Blue spots on scales becoming iridescent. Genital papilla conical, prominent and yellow in the mature male; swollen in the mature female. An oblique eye-bar intensely black in the breeding male, duller in the female. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 28 - 29 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | 11 - 14 |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 28 |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 |
| Ventral 0 | |
| Spines total | 11 - 13 |
| Soft-rays total | 12 - 13 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 3 - 3 |
| Soft-rays total | 9 - 11 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |