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 have longer tail (Ref. 52034). |
Striking features | striking shape of body |
Body shape lateral | other |
Cross section | |
Dorsal head profile | |
Type of eyes | |
Type of mouth/snout | |
Position of mouth | terminal |
Type of scales | |
Diagnosis |
Description (based on 46 specimens): Adult height: 8.5-18.0cm. Rings: 11 + 37-39 (35-40). Snout length: 2.3-2.8 in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 19-20 (17-20) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 16-18. Coronet: small but distinct, with 5 rounded knobs or blunt points; horizontal plate in front of coronet as high as coronet itself, with a more or less prominent spine at its front edge; coronet not joined smoothly to neck. Spines: medium to well-developed with blunt tips. Other distinctive characters: prominent rounded eye spines; often with a mane of thick skin fronds on neck and head. Color pattern: from dark green to brown (Refs. 52034, 89230); prominent white spots on body (often with a dark ring around them) which tend to coalesce into horizontal wavy lines103; may be variously mottled or with pale ‘saddles’ across dorsolateral surface. |
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 | 17 - 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 |