| Main Ref. | Fischer, W., M.-L. Bauchot and M. Schneider (eds.), 1987 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | different colors in juveniles and adults |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | |
| 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 | |
| Diagnosis |
Snout with 4-6 cephalic pores. Spiny rays flexible. No scales on head and on base of dorsal and anal fins. Vertebrae 25-26. Males: first 3 dorsal rays elongated, with an orange or red and black spot. Along the flanks, a- longitudinal zigzag orange or red stripe. Females and juveniles: a longitudinal large whitish stripe along flanks, a mid-longitudinal zigzag, dark brown stripe. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 1 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 73 - 80 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 4.5 - 4.5 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | 14 - 17 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 8 - 10 |
| Soft-rays total | 11 - 12 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 3 - 3 |
| Soft-rays total | 11 - 12 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic before origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |