Morphology Data of Upeneus heterospinus
Identification keys
Abnormalities
Main Ref. Uiblein, F., D.C. Gledhill, D.A. Pavlov, T.A. Hoang and S. Shaheen, 2019
Appearance refers to
Bones in OsteoBase

Sex attributes

Specialized organs
Different appearance
Different colors
Remarks

Descriptive characteristics of juvenile and adult

Striking features
Body shape lateral
Cross section compressed
Dorsal head profile
Type of eyes
Type of mouth/snout
Position of mouth
Type of scales
Diagnosis

This species is distinguished by the following characters: D VII or VIII + 9, with the first spine minute in 8-spined fish; pectoral fins 13-15; gill rakers 4-6 + 15-18 = 21-24; lateral-line scales 28-30. All measurements in % SL, adults: body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 22-26; body depth at anus 18-22; caudal-peduncle depth 9.2-11; caudal-peduncle width 3.5-5.0; maximum head depth 19-23; head depth through eye 15-18; suborbital depth 8.3-11; interorbital length 7.2-9.2; head length 27-31; snout length 9.7-13; postorbital length 10-13; orbit length 5.9-8.3; upper-jaw length 9.4-13; barbel length 16-20; interdorsal distance 13-17; caudal-peduncle length 22-26; caudal-fin length 27-32; anal-fin height 15-19; pelvic-fin length 19-23; pectoral-fin length 19-22; pectoral-fin width 3.4-4.7; first dorsal-fin height 18­­-23; second dorsal-fin height 16-20. All measurements in % SL, subadults: body depth at first dorsal-fin origin 22-24; body depth

at anus 18-21; caudal-peduncle depth 9.1-10; caudal-peduncle width 3.6-3.8; maximum head depth 19-21; head depth through eye 15-18; suborbital depth 9.0-10; interorbital length 7.6-8.1; head length 29-30; snout length 11-12; postorbital length 11-13; orbit length 7.8-7.9; upper-jaw length 9.9-12; barbel length 18-19; interdorsal distance 12-14; caudal-peduncle length 22-25; caudal-fin length 29-31; anal-fin height 16-19; pelvic-fin length 21-22; pectoral-fin length 21; pectoral-fin width 3.8-4.2; first dorsal-fin height 21­-22; second dorsal-fin height 17-20. Colouration: head and body are red dorsally, brown or dark-grey mottled, ventrally white, often with pale beige or grey dots or red blotches (inactive, live fish with large red patches and broad vertical or oblique red bands on body); the upper lobe of caudal fin with 4-6 red or brown bars (3 or 4 bars in subadults), while the lower caudal-fin lobe with 5-7 (3-5) red, brown or dark-brown bars, usually crossed, entirely or ony dorsally, by a yellow, beige, pale red or pale brown stripe; bars on both lobes of pupil width or less in adults, interrupted by pale, partly hyaline interspaces of similar width or slightly narrower; the lower caudal-lobe tip sometimes black; barbels are entirely yellow; with a single yellow, beige, or pale brown mid-lateral body stripe of pupil width from snout tip through eye to caudal-fin base; the stripe sometimes covered by 1-4 sections with 1-4 dark dots, the posteriormost group of dots behind second dorsal-fin base, often connecting to a dark saddle behind second dorsal fin; the first dorsal fin with 3-4 often fused, pale-red, pale-brown or beige stripes, the fin-tip area not darker pigmented while the second dorsal fin has 3-4 red or brown well-separated stripes with hyaline interspaces; pectoral fins hyaline, pelvic and anal fins weakly pigmented and partly hyaline; preserved fish is pale brown, often with remains of dark pigmentation deriving from caudal-fin bars, mid-lateral dots, saddle and/or second dorsal-fin distal stripe (Ref. 121834).

Ease of Identification

Meristic characteristics of Upeneus heterospinus

Lateral Lines Interrupted: No
Scales on lateral line 28 - 30
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 15 - 18
on upper limb 4 - 6
total 21 - 24
Vertebrae
preanal
total

Fins

Dorsal fin(s)

Attributes
Fins number 2
Finlets No. Dorsal   
Ventral  
Spines total 7 - 8
Soft-rays total 9 - 9
Adipose fin

Caudal fin

Attributes

Anal fin(s)

Fins number
Spines total
Soft-rays total

Paired fins

Pectoral Attributes  
Spines     
Soft-rays   13 - 15
Pelvics Attributes  
Position    
Spines     
Soft-rays   
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cfm script by eagbayani, 17.10.00, php script by rolavides, 13/03/08 ,  last modified by sortiz, 06.27.17