Snout swollen, projecting beyond the ventral mouth. Mental pores surrounded by thickened skin, produced into two short, irregular tags between the median and first lateral pores. Teeth differentiated into large and small upper jaw, those in the outer row close-set and enlarged, but not canine-like. Lower jaw teeth uniformly villiform. Sagitta with a tadpole-shaped impression, the "tail" of which is expanded and deepened as a hollow cone. Gillrakers short and narrow, 6 or 7 on lower limb of first arch. Second part of dorsal fin with 1 spine and 25-229 soft rays. Swim bladder hammer-shaped, with 13 or 14 pairs of arborescent appendages, the first branching in the head.