| Main Ref. | Eccles, D.H. and E. Trewavas, 1989 |
| Appearance refers to | |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | different colors during breeding season only |
| Remarks | Females and immature males silvery or bronzy, melanin pattern evident. Breeding males generally turquoise. Head peacock blue, back and sides greenish. |
| 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 | cycloid and ctenoid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Differs from P. marginatus and P. similis in having a group of enlarged pharyngeal teeth and from P. labridens in having a straight snout profile and a larger mouth, with the lower jaw one third or more of the head length. |
| 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 | 5 - 6 |
| 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 | 10 - 13 |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | 13 - 13 |
| total | 30 - 30 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | 14 - 16 |
| Soft-rays total | 9 - 11 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate; more or less normal |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Spines total | 3 - 3 |
| Soft-rays total | 8 - 10 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position thoracic beneath origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays |