Diagnostic characters: posterior preopercular spine at angle long from early postflexion stage to about 8 mm; supraoccipital crest low, weakly serrate and without a peak, absent from late postflexion stage; 1 supracleithral spine; low pterotic ridge from 8.3 mm; expanded melanophore laterally on gut below pectoral-fin base until early postflexion stage; 8 or more (rarely 5) expanded melanophores along dorsal midline of trunk and tail.
Sequence of fin formation: caudal (3.0-6.1 mm); dorsal (3.8-8.1 mm); anal (3.8-8.1 mm); pelvic (5.3-8.3 mm); pectoral (5.4-8.3 mm).
Larvae have been caught in Cockburn Sound and the lower Swan Estuary (WA) (Ref. 33820, 35267),and in the upper Spencer Gulf (SA) from September to March. |