| Main Ref. | Marceniuk, A.P., R. Betancur-R., A. Acero and J. Muriel-Cunha, 2012 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks | Males with anterior portion of body relatively longer than in females (distance from tip of snout to pectoral fin 22.0-27.4% SL vs. 19.7-24.8% SL); males with accessory tooth plates containing relatively fewer and smaller molariform teeth; and nuptial males usually showing accessory tooth plates covered by epithelial tissue. Females have posterior expansion of dentary longer and with more molariform teeth; females have longer pelvic fin (14.4-18.1% SL vs. 12.9-14.6% SL) than males (Ref. 92375). |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | sub-terminal/inferior |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Distinguished from its subcongeners from the Western Atlantic by the following combination of characters: maxillary barbel reaching or surpassing base of pectoral spine; orbital diameter 1.8-2.5 (rarely 1.7) in snout length; orbital diameter 5.2-7.8 in maxillary barbel length; orbital diameter 4.0-5.7 in external mental barbel length; no fleshy papillae on lateral and mesial surfaces of first and second gill arches; 17-20 gill rakers on first arch; 16-19 gill rakers on second arch; supraoccipital process 9.1-11.5% SL; silvery or whitish coloration on flanks and abdominal region in life; 41-43 free vertebrae; dorsal-fin spine shorter or as long as pectoral-fin spine; dorsal-fin spine length 1.05-1.3 in pectoral-fin spine length; densely granulated cephalic shield; eight fixed mitochondrial substitutions; pale pigmentation on pelvic and pectoral fins; short and inconspicuous serrations on posterior margin of pectoral-fin spine; lower caudal-peduncle 6.2-8.3% SL; snout length 1.0-1.4 in supraoccipital process length; supraoccipital process length 0.7-0.9 in width of cephalic shield at lateral ethmoid area; and orbital diameter 2.8-3.9 (rarely 2.7) in width of cephalic shield at lateral ethmoid area. Differs from its subcongeners from eastern Pacific by the following characters: osseous portion of dorsomedial groove of neurocranium conspicuous and deep, with straight margins tapering posteriorly; dorsal-fin spine thicker or as thick as pectoral-fin spine; narrow caudal-fin lobes, pointed posteriorly; 18-23 gill rakers on first arch; 16-19 gill rakers on second arch; mouth 8.9-11.7% SL; orbital diameter 3.5-4.9% SL; cephalic shield at supracleithrum area 16.6-18.2% SL; 16-21 gill rakers on first arch; 19-24 anal-fin rays; fleshy portion of dorsomedial groove of neurocranium inconspicuous, wide and shallow, not continuous to the level of posterior nares; supraoccipital process 9.1-11.5% SL; mesial mental barbel 10.8-16.7% SL; thin lips; and accessory tooth plates and posterior expansion of dentary with small molariform teeth (Ref. 92375). |
| 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 | 6 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 40 - 43 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 1 - 1 |
| Soft-rays total | 7 - 7 |
| Adipose fin | present |
| Attributes | forked |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 19 - 24 |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 10 - 10 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position abdominal | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 6 - 6 |