| Main Ref. | Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins, 1999 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral (shape guide) | eel-like |
| Cross section | oval |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Eel-like, moderate to shallow body depth; maxilla adnate or nearly so; cardiform teeth present; branchiostegal membranes partly or completely united; swim bladder with thin terminal membrane or bulb; lacking enlarged dentary or premaxillary fangs, dentary diastema, pelvic fins, and swim bladder rocker bone (Ref. 34024). Swim bladder long, tubular, extending well beyond 12th vertebra (Ref. 34024). Description: Characterized by translucent coloring; often with numerous small dark spots; usually blackish posterior portion of tail; length of pectoral fin 2.5-3.2 in head length; long and slender body, depth about 20 in TL; very low dorsal and anal rays; anal rays anterior to origin of dorsal fin; head length about 8.5-10.5 in TL; immobile maxilla, bound by skin to side of head; single row of jaw teeth , well spaced, upper jaw teeth hooked posteriorly; 2-3 enlarged teeth in vomer; palatines with single row of teeth (Ref. 90102). |
| 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 | 26 - 32 |
| total | 136 - 140 |
| Attributes | |
| Fins number | |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 25 - 36 |
| Adipose fin |
| Attributes |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 42 - 52 |
| Pectoral | Attributes |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 17 - 19 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes |
| Position | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |