| Main Ref. | Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene, 1990 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | males alike females |
| Different colors | males alike females |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | elongated |
| Cross section | circular |
| 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 | cycloid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Adults variable from grey to red (Ref. 48635). On some individuals, the hourglass- or saddle-shaped markings along its side may be obliterated by an almost solid dark red band (Ref. 1602). Large individuals are often thick-bodied, giving a hump-backed appearance (Ref. 1602). Description: Characterized by grey to whitish color; upper side with about six irregular dark bars with smaller blotches in between; lower side with whitish stripe interrupted by dark red to brown bars; fully scaled cheek behind mouth to edge of preopercle; broad interorbital space, 3.9-4.7% of SL; short and triangular flap on anterior nostril; pectoral fin not reaching line connecting origins of dorsal and pelvic fins (Ref. 90102). |
| Ease of Identification | likely to be confused with closely related species. |
| Lateral Lines | 1 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 60 - 63 |
| Pored lateral line scales | 56 - 61 |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 5.5 - 5.5 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 14 |
| Adipose fin | present |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 8 - 10 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 11 - 13 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic before origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 8 - 9 |