| Main Ref. | Markle, D.F. and J.E. Olney, 1990 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| 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 (shape guide) | eel-like |
| Cross section | oval |
| 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 | terminal |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Eel-like, moderate to shallow body depth; maxilla free and movable; cardiform teeth present; branchiostegal membranes partly or completely united; swim bladder with thin terminal membrane or bulb; lacking enlarged dentary or premaxillary fangs, dentary diastema, pelvic fins, and swim bladder rocker bone (Ref. 34024). Description: Characterized by translucent with silvery cheek and abdomen; length of pectoral fin 1.9-2.6 in head length; head depth greater than body depth, about 15 in TL; head length about 8.0 in TL; two rows of incurved teeth in jaws, largest are the inner row of upper jaw and outer row of lower jaw; vomer with 2-6 enlarged teeth in middle row on protruding vomer; 2-3 rows of teeth in palatines (Ref. 90102). |
| 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 | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | absent |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | 3 - 3 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 16 - 19 |
| total | 116 - 128 |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 33 - 38 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 53 - 61 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 17 - 21 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes suppressed/absent |
| Position absent | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 0 - 0 |