Moderately elongate, robust body; head broad, flattened above and between eyes; eyes partly covered by a well developed transparent fatty eyelid; mouth small, opens at front, lips thin, with knob at front of lower lips; jaw teeth simple (1 point) or notched, attached to lips, tiny or invisible to naked eye; no teeth on tongue or roof of mouth; two short, widely spaced dorsal fins, 1st with IV slender spines; anal fin III, 8-9; pectorals high on body, 1st ray hard; pelvics inserted behind pectoral base; concave or weakly forked tail; scales moderate to large, rough on body of adults; no lateral line.
A circumglobal tropical to temperate genus with 15 species; represented in our region by 1 circumtropical species, 2 species that also occur in the tropical western Atlantic and 3 endemics.
