| Main Ref. | Whitehead, P.J.P., M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.), 1986 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | other |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks | Males with brood pouch; females with ovipositor (Ref. 205). |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | eel-like |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | tube-like |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | bony plates or armour |
| Diagnosis |
Gill opening reduced to a pore located in the membrane above the opercle. Gill membranes fused to the body and isthmus. Superior trunk and tail ridges continuous, inferior trunk and tail ridges discontinuous, lateral trunk ridge confluent with inferior tail ridge. Brood area of male located under trunk. Rings: 28-31+60-69; Dorsal 37-47; Sub-dorsal 11-7+2-4; Caudal 4-9, rudimentary. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | 0 - 0 |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | other |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 0 - 0 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays |