| Main Ref. | Eccles, D.H. and E. Trewavas, 1989 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | different colors in mature adults only |
| Remarks | Females are yellowish grey w/ broad black irregularly shaped bars w/c usually extend to dorsal fin; males are blue-grey w/ broad bars and orange flecks. |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | compressed |
| Dorsal head profile | clearly convex |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | cycloid and ctenoid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Distinguished from P. taeniolatus by the more strongly marked pattern of longitudinal and vertical black stripes and in having fewer and larger teeth in the outer row of the upper jaw and on the lower pharyngeal bone, in having more fleshy lips which partly obscure the posterior teeth of the upper jaw, and in having fewer gill rakers, with the anterior ones very low and blunt. Differs from P. virgatus in not having the posterior teeth of the two inner rows of the lower pharyngeal enlarged. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 1 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 5 - 6 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | 10 - 13 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 13 - 13 |
| total | 31 - 31 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 15 - 16 |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 11 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 3 - 3 |
| Soft-rays total | 9 - 10 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |