| Main Ref. | Woodland, D.J., 1990 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | no special organs |
| Different appearance | always different morphology between mature adults |
| Different colors | |
| Remarks | Males have a slightly more elongated body than females. During the breeding season, males are generally smaller than females and the genital aperture of the female is more enlarged than that of the male (Ref. 87212). |
| Striking features | none |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | compressed |
| 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 | terminal |
| Diagnosis |
Body silvery gray above, silvery below; a touch of olive green on nape and upper surface of head; fright pattern mottled with pale cream and dark brown; usually fish display a dark patch just below origin of lateral line. Preopercular angle 89°-96°; cheeks appear to be scaleless but sometimes with few to many, fine, embedded scales on lower 2/3; midline of thorax scaleless between pelvic ridges. Margin of anterior nostril encircled by a low flange with the flap extending towards posterior flap; flap shortens with increasing size. Closely resembles S. fuscescens but differs by its slightly more pointed snout and longer pectoral fins (1.1-1.3 in HL vs. 1.4-1.5 in S. fuscescens) (Ref. 1602). Color pattern is similar to that of S. argenteus and S. fuscescens. |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | 1 Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | |
| Scale rows above lateral line | 16 - 27 |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | |
| Barbels | 0 |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | 16 - 21 |
| on upper limb | 4 - 6 |
| total | 20 - 27 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 10 - 10 |
| total | 23 - 23 |
| Attributes | extending over most of the back length |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal 0 - 0 |
| Ventral 0 - 0 | |
| Spines total | 13 - 13 |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 10 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | forked; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 7 - 7 |
| Soft-rays total | 9 - 9 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines 0 | |
| Soft-rays 15 - 18 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic behind origin of D1 | |
| Spines 2 | |
| Soft-rays 3 - 3 |