Banded kokopu the dorsal and anal fins are positioned close to the tail fin, which is short and square. The caudal peduncle is short and deep, with thick fleshy flanges which join the tail fin. Adults are usually a dark, earthy brown or olive brown, with pale yellow vertical bands along the body. The belly is light coloured and unpatterned. Behind the operculum and above the pectoral fin is a silver or white mark, and sometimes a darker mark behind this. The bands either fade out top and bottom, or fork and crisscross the back of the fish. In small fish the
Velvet belly lanternshark well-separated from one another. The coloration is brown above, abruptly transitioning to black below. There are thin black marks above and behind the pelvic fins, and along the caudal fin. The velvet belly possesses numerous photophores that emit a blue-green light visible from away. Varying densities of photophores are arranged in nine patches on the shark's sides and belly, creating a pattern unique to this species: photophores are present along the lateral line, scattered beneath the head but excluding the mouth, evenly on the belly, and concentrated around the pectoral fins and beneath the caudal peduncle. The maximum reported length