| Main Ref. | Lourie, S.A., A.C.J. Vincent and H.J. Hall, 1999 |
| 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 | |
| Body shape lateral | other |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Description: (based on 22 specimens): Adult height: 15.0-25.0cm. Rings: 11+40 (39-41). Snout length: 2.1 (2.0-2.3) in head length. Dorsal fin rays: 18 (17-19) covering 2+1 rings. Pectoral fin rays: 18 (17-19). Coronet: high, with five short spines, and high plate in front of coronet. Spines: low and rounded, slightly better developed in younger specimens, but still blunt-tipped. Other distinctive characters: long, slightly backwards pointing, rounded cheek spine; deep head; narrow body; thick body rings; prominent, rounded eye spine; thick snout. Color pattern: pale, often with tiny white spots running in vertical lines, but otherwise uniform in color. Young H. kelloggi look very similar to H. spinosissimus. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 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 | |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 17 - 19 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | other (see remark) |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total |
| Pectoral | Attributes used for locomotion |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 17 - 19 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |