Diagnosis |
This medium sized species grows to about 42.9 cm TL and has the following set of diagnostic characters: disc 0.9-1.1 times as wide as long and with rounded outer corners, it is extremely depressed pear-shaped to broadly inverse heart-shaped (in adult male); snout angle 85-106° and larger in juveniles; snout terminally expanded as a rostral lobe that is 9-12% of preorbital snout length; further juveniles with a short, thin rostral filament; narrow interorbital distance, 2-3% of TL; inner margin of posterior pelvic lobe fused along its entire length to root of tail; length of tail from mid-vent about equal to body length from tip of rostral lobe to mid-vent in adults, but 1.5 times body length in juveniles; surface of upper and lower disc and tail entirely naked except for 2 longitudinal rows of alar thorns in adult male; the tail with 2 lateral rows of fleshy, tubular papillae; colour of upper and lower surfaces dark grayish-brown, but ventral surface somewhat darker; upper jaw with 18=26 tooth rows; monospondylous vertebral centra 25-29; scapulocoracoid subrectangular, the rear corner sharply marked; large oval anterior fenestra no anterior bridge, one very large oval postdorsal and 5 minute to small postventral fenestrae; pelvic girdle with massive ischiopubic bar with straight to weakly concave anterior and deeply concave posterior contour; prepelvic processes are very long and inclined outwards, their length from axis of pelvic girdle maximal width 3.9-5.3 times median thickness of ischiopubic bar (Ref. 95335). |