Eyespot rasbora ventral area of the body between the operculum and the pelvic fins (corresponding roughly to the sac enclosing the alimentary canal). Under conditions of reflectied light, the fish sometimes displays a fine lateral band from the opeculum to the end of the caudal peduncle (Walker, 1971, p. 98) this being an olive-gold hue. The fins, with the exception of the dorsal fin, are hyaline, the relation of the pectoral and pelvic fins being typical of the ostariophysans (fishes possessing an auxiliary mechanism for detecting sound consisting of a set of internal bones called the Weberian Ossicles). In such fishes, the
Whitefin dogfish is distinctive in being the only "Centroscyllium" species with abrupt black markings beneath its head, trunk, and pectoral fins, with a black stripe running from under the caudal peduncle to over the pelvic fins. These markings are in fact concentrations of tiny light-emitting photophores. Unusually, this shark also has photophores along the undersides of its upper eyelids. What function these structures could serve is unclear; Tchernavin speculated that they could be used to illuminate prey or stimulate the eye. The rest of the body is gray-brown, with white fin margins. There are numerous small cone-shaped, hooked prickles over the body,