| Main Ref. | Valdesalici, S. and R. Brousseau, 2014 |
| Appearance refers to | Male; Female |
| Bones in OsteoBase |
| Specialized organs | |
| Different appearance | |
| Different colors | always different colors between mature adults |
| Remarks |
| Striking features | |
| Body shape lateral | fusiform / normal |
| Cross section | |
| Dorsal head profile | |
| Type of eyes | |
| Type of mouth/snout | |
| Position of mouth | |
| Type of scales | cycloid scales |
| Diagnosis |
Papiliolebias francescae is distinguished from all congeners by the following unique characters: pointed dorsal and anal fins in males (vs. rounded); oblique, chevron-shaped, blue-gray and dark red stripes in close proximity on flanks of males (vs. never a similar color pattern); proximal half dorsal and anal fin whitish with broad dark red elongated spots (vs. proximal portion black with white spots); two or three transverse rows of dark red spots on caudal fin (vs. never a similar color pattern); pupil with anterior pointed extension (vs. rounded pupil) (Ref. 111235). |
| Ease of Identification |
| Lateral Lines | Interrupted: No |
| Scales on lateral line | |
| Pored lateral line scales | |
| Scales in lateral series | 23 - 27 |
| Scale rows above lateral line | |
| Scale rows below lateral line | |
| Scales around caudal peduncle | 12 - 15 |
| Barbels | |
| Gill clefts (sharks/rays only) | |
| Gill rakers | |
| on lower limb | |
| on upper limb | |
| total | |
| Vertebrae | |
| preanal | |
| total | 26 - 26 |
| Attributes | no striking attributes |
| Fins number | 1 |
| Finlets No. | Dorsal |
| Ventral | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 10 - 12 |
| Adipose fin | absent |
| Attributes | more or less truncate |
| Fins number | |
| Spines total | |
| Soft-rays total | 18 - 19 |
| Pectoral | Attributes more or less normal |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 12 - 14 | |
| Pelvics | Attributes more or less normal |
| Position abdominal before origin of D1 | |
| Spines | |
| Soft-rays 7 - 7 |