| Main Ref. | Suttkus, R.D. and M.F. Mettee, 2001 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | |
| 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 | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | cycloid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Body deep. Nuptial males with greatly elevated dorsal and anal fins and a distal black caudal spot, deeper than long or vertically oval. Anal fin, when depressed, reaches to or beyond caudal fin base. |
| 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 | 35 - 37 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 7 - 9 |
| Adipose fin |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 8 - 12 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 11 - 15 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal before origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |