Zéidés

• all 3 temperate oceans
• roughly discoid, laterally compressed body plan
• head is large and sloping to concave in profile
• oblique mouth with massive jaws highly extensile
• large eyes situated high on the head and directed dorsolaterally
• large round black spot encircled by a yellow ring, centrally located on the body
• crest-shaped spinous dorsal fin
• adults with long filaments trailing from the dorsal spines
• second, much lower dorsal fin (with 22–37 soft rays) extends down the rest of the back, in a slight retrorse direction due to the body's curvature
• pelvic fins are thoracic, spineless, and greatly elongated
• pectoral fins are small, short, and rounded, inserted fairly low on the body
• caudal peduncle is thin and the caudal fin is small and truncate (brush-shaped)
• armoured ventral keel (scales modified into hard, bony plates)
• opercular bones without spines or serrations (dentelures)
• substrate scatterers, nonguarders
• fertilized eggs are negatively buoyant and sink into the substrate, to which they adhere

Identification key to Zeus (fishbase)