| Main Ref. | Holleman, W., 2007 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks | Male body brown, female cream. Midside of both have brown blotches but males have smaller white spots along midline (Ref. 75031). |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | elongated |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Diagnosis: Medium fusiform tripterygiid, less than 4.0 cm SL. Dorsal fin III + XII-XIV + 10-11, first fin low; anal fin I + 19; pectoral rays 16 (1+8+7); pelvic fin I, 2, spine short and hidden, segmented rays simple, partially united by membrane. Vertebrae 10 + 25-26. LL total lateral scales 36-39, pored series 19-25 (121) scales, terminates below junction of 2nd and 3rd dorsal fins; nape, underside of caudal peduncle, and bases of anal fin and first and second dorsal fins scaleless. Mandibular pores 5+1+5. Snout short, profile blunt. Head length 3.7 in SL; eye 2.9; maxilla 2.3 in HL. Male overall brown with vertical bars reddish brown extending to midline; dark brown blotches and smaller bluish-white spots along midline. Female head white with brown spots; body cream with 6 pairs of semi-bars. Geographical variation in coloration and meristic characters: fishes from Mauritius have less pigmentation than those from Comoro and Seychelles Islands. Caudal vertebrae 26 in Mauritius, 25 in Comoro and Seychelles Islands. (Ref. 75031). |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | 36 - 39 |
| Pored lateral line scales | 19 - 25 |
| 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 | 10 - 10 |
| total | 35 - 36 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | 3 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 11 - 17 |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 11 |
| Adipose fin |
| Attributes | more or less truncate |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 1 - 1 |
| Soft-rays total | 19 - 20 |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 16 - 16 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position thoracic | |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 2 - 2 |