Vol. 51 No. 6, 2012

A New Blind Loach Triplophysa lihuensis sp. nov. (Teleostei: Balitoridae) from Guangxi, China

Tie-Jun Wu¹, Jian Yang^2,*, and Jia-Hu Lan³

¹Guangxi Institute of Fisheries, Nanning 530021, China
²School of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Guangxi Teachers Education University, Nanning, 530001, China
³Du’an Fishery Technique Popularization Station, Du’an 530700, China

Tie-Jun Wu, Jian Yang, and Jia-Hu Lan (2012) Triplophysa lihuensis sp. nov., is described based on 5 specimens collected from a cave in Renguang Village, Lihu Town, Nandan County, Guangxi, China. It is distinguished from all other congeneric species by having the following combination of characters: eyes and scales absent; lips with furrows; outer rostral barbel 42.9%-54.5% of lateral head length and longer than the other 2 pairs of barbels; anterior nostril with elongate barbel-like tip; dorsal-fin rays 2/7 or 8; pelvic-fin rays 1/6; anal-fin rays 2/6; pectoral-fin rays 1/10-12; branched caudal-fin rays 13 or 14; distal margin of dorsal-fin truncate, dorsal fin origin much closer to caudal-fin base than to snout tip; dorsal-fin origin posterior to vertical line of pelvic-fin origin; pectoral fins flabellate, pectoral-fin length 53.3%-58.0% of distance between pectoral-fin origin and pelvic-fin origin; pelvic fins short, not reaching anus; caudal fins emarginate; dorsal and ventral crests present on caudal-peduncle; and posterior chamber of gas-bladder developed, reaching pelvic-fin origin.

Key words: New species, Cave fish, Triplophysa, Taxonomy.

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