| Main Ref. | Fricke, R., 1994 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | always different colors between mature adults |
| Remarks | Males have a slightly higher first dorsal fin than females, and a different colouration of the head and the dorsal fins. |
| Striking features | striking fins |
| Body shape lateral | elongated |
| Cross section | oval |
| Dorsal head profile | clearly concave |
| Type of eyes | positioned on stalks, very prominent, or tubular |
| Type of mouth/snout | other (see diagnosis) |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Diagnosis |
Presence of a black head mask in males, a black streak on the caudal peduncle in both sexes, blackish dorsal fins in males, a plain whitish anal fin, a pointed snout (snout angle 30-40°), 16-21 anal fin rays, 15-20 + 15-20 lateral line scales, and 2-3 median mandibular pores. |
| Ease of Identification | easy to distinguish from other species. |
| Lateral Lines | 2 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 30 - 40 |
| Pored lateral line scales | 15 - 20 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 13 - 17 |
| Soft-rays total | 8 - 11 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 1 - 1 |
| Soft-rays total | 15 - 20 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 15 - 16 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position jugular behind origin of D1 | |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 2 - 2 |