| 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 are heavier than females (Ref. 52034). |
| Striking features | striking shape of body |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | other |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Description: (based on 27 specimens): Adult height: 10.7-14.6cm. Rings: 11+35-36 (34-37). Snout length: 2.2 (1.9-2.5) in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 18 (17-19) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 17 (16-19). Coronet: small and quite low, with five distinct rounded knobs or spines. Spines: knob-like and blunt, to well-developed and quite sharp; often with dark band around them near tip. Other distinctive characters: cheek spines double; double spines below, and sometimes also above eye; prominent, sharp nose spine; snout long and slender. Color pattern: commonly hues of yellow and black, sometimes alternating; striped tail (although this may not be visible in dark specimens); mottled or blotched pattern on body; may have fine white lines radiating from eye. |
| 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 - 19 |
| 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 - 19 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |