| Main Ref. | Kong, I., R. Meléndez and G. Henriquez, 1988 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | other |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks | male intromittent organ present |
| Striking features | long whip-like tail |
| Body shape lateral | elongated |
| 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 | sub-terminal/inferior |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
body tapers to a slender tail; imbricate scales present on body, absent from head and bases of dorsal and anal fins; opercular spine strong; a prominent skin flap ending in a large pore above the upper angle of the opercle; palatine teeth present; 3 or 4 well developed rakers on the first arch; branchiostegal rays 8; male intromittent organ on a broad fleshy pad or stalk; pectoral fins mounted on a broad lobe (Ref. 34024). |
| Ease of Identification | likely to be confused with closely related species. |
| 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 | 19 - 21 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 144 - 169 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | pointed; confluent |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 98 - 122 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 21 - 25 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes reduced to filaments |
| Position jugular before origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 1 - 1 |