| Main Ref. | Hensley, D.A. and J.E. Randall, 1990 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | different colors in mature adults only |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | flatfish |
| Body shape lateral | short and / or deep |
| Cross section | compressed |
| 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 and ctenoid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Males with ocular flap on each eye, red-spotted, and with a smooth, indented or scalloped margin; with orbital spines and a rostral spine on ocular side; are darkly pigmented on blind side. Sexual dimorphism in 3 morphometric characters exists: interorbital width, length of pectoral and pelvic fins on ocular side. Gill rakers elongate. Ctenoid scales on ocular side, cycloid on blind side. 2nd pectoral fin ray of ocular side much longer than the rest. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 1 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 43 - 51 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | |
| 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 | 6 - 8 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 76 - 85 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 58 - 63 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 9 - 13 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic behind origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 6 - 6 |