Results for “ventral keel”

Although it is included in the genus Metzia this grouping remains somewhat unresolved in terms of taxonomy and it may contain more than a single genetic lineage. For example, members share a number of characters with the genera Ischikauia Jordan and Snyder 1900, Hemiculterella Warpachowski 1887, and several species of Anabarilius Cockerell 1923, including a bipartite gas bladder, a non-spinous dorsal-fin ray, and a sharp ventral keel between the pelvic-fin insertion and anus.

N. alestes is the only member of the genus in which the barbels are shorter than the head, with additional diagnostic characters as follows: 8-9 branched dorsal-fin rays; 12-14 branched anal-fin rays; 22-23 predorsal scales; body with a pronounced ventral keel.