| Main Ref. | Volcan, M.V., L.E.K. Lanés and A.C. Gonçalves, 2014 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | males alike females |
| Different colors | always different colors between mature adults |
| Remarks | Color in life: Males: Light brown to dark brown body side with generally 3-6 dark grey vertical bars that become gradually shorter and fainter towards caudal peduncle; 1st 2-3 bars more conspicuous; sometimes, the anterior region of the body pale golden; vertical bars 3-5 times narrower than the interspace width; number of vertical bars can be unequal between sides of body; abdominal region pale golden; infraorbital bar black, wider near the eye; supraorbital bar black, with distinctive narrow extension over the neuromast parietal series; iris orange, with a dark bar though centre of the eye; opercular region bright bluish-green; dorsal fin bluish-green with 5-7 black vertical bars extending from the base to the medial portion of the fin, interspersed with subtle, yellowish-white bars; caudal, anal and pelvic fins light bluish-green; no spots, dots or bars in caudal, pelvic and anal fins; narrow black stripe on margin of anal fin, inconspicuous in some specimens; pectoral fins hyaline, with narrow black ventral margin extending from the fin base to the tip of the 6th or 7th ventralmost rays (Ref. 118216). Females: Overall color pattern light yellowishbrown, with scattered dark grey or dark brown spots; venter pale golden; opercular region pale yellowish or pale greenish-blue; unpaired fins hyaline with light brown and spots bars on the basal portion of the dorsal, anal and caudal fins; pectoral and pelvic fins hyaline; iris orange, with dark bar through centre of eye; supra and suborbital bars dark grey and inconspicuous (Ref. 118216). |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | compressed |
| Dorsal head profile | clearly convex |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | terminal |
| Type of scales | |
| Diagnosis |
Diagnosis: Austrolebias bagual differs from all other species of Austrolebias by the unique colour pattern on the body and dorsal fin in males; usually consists of an overall light brown to dark brown coloration with 3-6 dark grey, narrow vertical bars, bars becoming gradually shorter and fainter towards caudal peduncle (vs. never similar colour patterns); dorsal fin light bluish-green, with 5-7 black vertical bars extending from the base to the medial portion of the fin (vs. absence of a such pattern in the remaining Austrolebias; females lack the pair of black spots arranged vertically in close proximity on the posterior portion of the caudal peduncle, sometimes coalescing to form an 8-shaped blotch, typical of most of the A. adloffi species group (except A. arachan and A. viarius) (Ref. 118216). |
| 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 | 28 - 29 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 15 - 23 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 17 - 25 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 11 - 13 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal before origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 5 |