| Main Ref. | |
| 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 | clearly convex |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | sub-terminal/inferior |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Dorsal fin typically with 8 branched rays. Anal fin with 3-4 simple rays, 9-11 branched rays. Snout moderately projecting; anterior naris origin close to snout tip (distance between anterior naris and snout tip less than eye diameter). Nasal barbel reaching at least to end of head, sometimes reaching dorsal-fin origin; maxillary barbel reaching past to adipose-fin origin; maxillary barbel membrane small, with narrow attachment to cheek only; maxillary bone long, reaching posteriorly to end of head. Vent and genital papillae near middle of pelvic fins (Ref. 40780). |
| 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 | 7 - 9 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 19 - 20 |
| total | 35 - 37 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 1 - 1 |
| Soft-rays total | 7 - 9 |
| Adipose fin | present |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 8 - 9 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal behind origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |