| Main Ref. | Compagno, L.J.V., D.A. Ebert and M.J. Smale, 1989 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | elongated |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | placoid scales |
| Diagnosis |
A stocky shark with long nasal barbels and a highly variable color pattern of black spots, rings and lines in horizontal rows on a grey to whitish background; white below (Ref. 5578). There are 3 different forms, the typical 'pantherinum' with lines and rosettes of spots, and two extreme forms, 'marleyi' with large dark spots (formerly considered a separate species), and 'salt and pepper' with small, densely packed black spots, intermediates between these extremes are extremely common (Ref. 5578). |
| 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 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | 2 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 0 - 0 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | other (see remark) |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 0 - 0 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 0 - 0 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 0 - 0 |