Diagnostic Description
provided by Fishbase
This species can be distinguished from its congeners by having the following characters: urogenital papilla externally visible in both males and females (vs. absent in M. pearsoni); length of urogenital papilla of sexually active males is shorter, half length of anal-fin base (vs. about equal to length of anal fin-base in M. kontos); dorsal fin height 16.1-17.8% SL in females and juveniles (vs. 13.4-15.8% SL in M. kontos); and 5 premaxillary tooth cusps (vs. 7 in M. kontos) (Ref. 94699).Description: Dorsal-fin rays ii,7-8; anal-fin rays ii,9-12; pectoral-fin rays i,9-10; pelvic-fin rays ii,4-5; 3 scale rows from pelvic-fin origin to lateral line (Ref. 94699).
Morphology
provided by Fishbase
Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 10; Analsoft rays: 11 - 14; Vertebrae: 37 - 38
