| Main Ref. | Nagelkerke, L.A.J. and F.A. Sibbing, 1997 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Lower lip forming a distinct median lobe; upper lip well developed, often with a median fleshy lobe; if lobes are absent, often a fleshy 'nose' is present; operculum depth about as large as ventral cheek length; head length less than 1.2 times in body depth. |
| Ease of Identification | likely to be confused with closely related species. |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 30 - 37 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 5 - 6 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | 2 - 3 |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | 12 - 12 |
| 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 | 11 - 13 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 8 - 8 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 16 - 18 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 10 - 11 |