| Main Ref. | Whitehead, P.J.P., 1985 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | males alike females |
| Different colors | males alike females |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| 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 | superior |
| Type of scales | cycloid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Belly with 26 to 28 scutes. Lower jaw projecting, mouth pointing obliquely upward; no hypo-maxilla. Dorsal fin origin nearer to caudal fin base than to vertical from pectoral fin base by about 2 eye diameters (or behind midpoint of body by about 3 eye diameters); anal fin long, its origin much nearer to snout tip than to caudal fin base. Scales easily shed. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 45 - 60 |
| 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) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | 21 - 25 |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 56 - 62 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 0 - 0 |