| Main Ref. | Whitehead, P.J.P., M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.), 1986 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | different morphology in juveniles and adults |
| Different colors | males alike females |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | striking type of mouth |
| Body shape lateral | short and / or deep |
| Cross section | compressed |
| Dorsal head profile | clearly convex |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | superior |
| Type of scales | scales embedded or partly/completely absent |
| Diagnosis |
Body uniformly blackish or dark blackish brown (Ref. 27363). Lateral line an open groove, bridged by scales at intervals. Swim bladder present. Juveniles: long cephalic and preopercular spine; big eye; teeth on jaws small, multiserial on premaxilaries; no teeth on palatine and vomer; gill rakers long and slender. Adult: no cephalic and preopercular spines; eye small; gill rakers tooth-like in groups on bony bases. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 1 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 | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | 7 - 12 |
| on upper limb | 4 - 8 |
| total | 11 - 20 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 28 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 17 - 20 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 7 - 9 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 14 - 16 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal before origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 7 - 7 |