Triplophysa longliensis, Ren & Yang & Chen, 2012

Ren, Qiu, Yang, Jun-Xing & Chen, Xiao-Yong, 2012, A new species of the genus Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae), Triplophysa longliensis sp. nov, from Guizhou, China, Zootaxa 3586, pp. 187-194 : 188-191

Triplophysa longliensis sp. nov.

( Fig. 1)

Holotype. KIZ 2010002988 , 81.6 mm SL; Yudonghe River (26°14'53.87"N; 106°52'59.51"E), a tributary of Hongshuihe River (upper reach of Pearl River ), at Baisheng Village, Longli County, Guizhou Province, China, 06 July 2010, collected by Wang Guangrong.

Paratypes. KIZ 2010002987 , 2010002989 , 2 ex., 80.5–100.5 mm SL, 06 July 2010, collected with the holotype . KIZ 20100084–87 , 4 ex., 61.0– 77.8 mm SL, 07 October 2010, collecting data same as for holotype .

Diagnosis. Skin smooth and scaleless; lateral line complete; head tapering and relatively narrow (head length 22.3–26.1% SL); eyes small (eye diameter 9.5–11.5% HL); lips thin and smooth; lower jaw spoon-like; anterior trunk subcylindrical and laterally compressed posteriorly; caudal peduncle slender and compressed, length 15.7–18.7% SL; posterior chamber of air bladder highly developed, long and bag-shaped, tip reaching origin of pelvic fin; intestine short, bending in zigzag shape behind stomach; insertion of pelvic fin posterior to dorsal-fin origin; dorsal-fin origin closer to snout tip than to caudal-fin base; caudal fin deeply forked, upper lobe obviously longer than lower one; pelvic-fin tip reaching to anus.

Description. D III, 8; A III, 5; P I, 10; V I, 6; C 15–16; inner gill rakers: 11–12; vertebrae: 4+38 (3 specimens).

Morphometric and proportional measurements are given in Table 1. Body elongate, anterior trunk subcylindrical, posterior portion laterally compressed. Caudal peduncle laterally compressed and depth reduced slowly towards caudal-fin base. Greatest body depth in front of dorsal-fin origin. Head depressed and nearly triangular when dorsally viewed, depth less than width. Snout pointed, snout length less than postorbital head length. Eyes small, eye diameter less than interorbital width, closer to snout tip than to end of operculum, close to dorsal profile of head, not visible in ventral view. Anterior and posterior nostrils closely situated, centers of nostrils closer to anterior margin of eye than to snout tip; anterior nostril in short tube, with moderately elongated barbellike tip; posterior nostrils larger than anterior ones.

Mouth inferior and arched. Lips thin and smooth; upper lip slightly furrowed, without median incision; lower lip with well-marked median incision, medially slightly furrowed and laterally smooth. Upper jaw covered by upper lip, some mature males with a weak processus dentiformis; lower jaw scoop-shaped, medially uncovered by lower lip ( Fig. 2B). Three pairs of barbels; inner rostral barbels reaching corners of mouth; outer rostral barbels the longest, extending beyond posterior margin of eye; maxillary barbel horizontally reaching anterior margin of eye.

Fins long. Dorsal fin emarginate, its origin closer to snout tip than to caudal-fin base, last unbranched ray longest, slightly less than head length. Pectoral fin long, close to pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic-fin origin slightly posterior to dorsal-fin origin, much closer to anal-fin origin than pectoral-fin origin, fin tip reaching to anus. Anal fin emarginate. Anus close to anal-fin origin, vent-anal distance greater than eye diameter. Caudal fin forked; upper lobe obviously longer than lower lobe; tips pointed.

Body smooth and scaleless. Cephalic lateral-line system well developed. Lateral line complete and straight, ending at caudal-fin base. Peritoneum pale. Intestine short, bending in zigzag shape behind stomach ( Fig. 2D). Bony capsule of air bladder dumbbell-shaped; posterior chamber highly developed, connecting anterior air bladder with short tube; long, bag-shaped ( Fig. 2C), tip of bladder reaching or surpassing origin of pelvic fin but not reaching anus.

Sexual dimorphism. Mature males have broadened and thickened unbranched rays and 5 outer branched rays of pectoral fin covered with breeding tubercles on dorsal surfaces. Breeding tubercles present on both sides of head in a patch extending from anterior lower margin of orbital to base of outer rostral barbel ( Fig. 2A). Females do not have these characteristics.

Color pattern. Ground color of body light yellow, fading to pale gray in alcohol preservative. Fin membranes hyaline and slightly gray, with melanophores scattered. Four of the specimens examined have 5–6 obscure black blotches along dorsal midline; width of each blotch far less than interval between blotches. The other three specimens are mottled. Body has some irregular obscure dark blotches dorsally and laterally. Black spot present on top of head. Black basal bar on caudal-fin base.

Distribution. Triplophysa longliensis is known only from the type locality ( Fig. 3). The habitat of the species is shown in Figure 4.

Etymology. The specific epithet longliensis is derived from the Chinese Pinyin Longli (type locality) and Latin suffix (ensis).

the outlet of the subterranean river.

(̝) and T. longibarbatus () in Guizhou Province, China.