| Main Ref. | Palsson, W.A. and T.W. Pietsch, 1989 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | flaps |
| Body shape lateral | other |
| Cross section | flattened |
| Dorsal head profile | more or less straight |
| Type of eyes | more or less normal |
| Type of mouth/snout | more or less normal |
| Position of mouth | sub-terminal/inferior |
| Type of scales | bony plates or armour |
| Diagnosis |
Color in life variable; body usually light to dark brown, with dorsal and lateral area darker than ventral surface. Pectoral fins hyaline, distal margin white and spotted. Pelvic fin spine and 1st ray forming an elongate, tentacular structure. 3 pairs of dorsolateral body plates; 4 pairs of ventrolateral body plates; tail rings 8 (rarely 9), mobile. A pair of deep pits posterior to orbit. Suborbital shelf concave, eye visible in ventral view. Ventral ridges of rostrum greatly expanded than dorsal ridges, each with laterally directed denticles. Anal papilla absent. Description: Characterized by relatively broad and short body carapace; relatively short snout (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 | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 19 - 22 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 5 - 5 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 0 - 0 |
| Soft-rays total | 5 - 5 |
| Pectoral | Attributes transformed to 'aerofoils' |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 9 - 12 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes other (see diagnosis) |
| Position thoracic before origin of D1 | |
| Spines 1 | |
| Soft-rays 2 - 2 |