| Main Ref. | Trewavas, E., 1983 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | different morphology during breeding season only |
| Different colors | different colors during breeding season only |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | short and / or deep |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | clearly concave |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Diagnosis |
Scales on cheek in 2 or 3 series. Genital papilla of male conical or club-shaped, with a sub-terminal pore. Females and immature males have a yellow-buff background color with a series of mid-lateral blotches and a more dorsal parallel series. Mature males golden-yellow; conspicuous bright blue areas on dorsal, anal and pelvic fins; orange or red dorsal lappets. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 2 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 29 - 31 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 4 - 4.5 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | 16 - 19 |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 28 - 30 |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 |
| Ventral 0 | |
| Spines total | 14 - 17 |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 13 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 3 - 3 |
| Soft-rays total | 9 - 10 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |