Huigobio Fang, 1938

Jiang, Zhong-Guan & Zhang, E., 2013, Molecular evidence for taxonomic status of the gudgeon genus Huigobio Fang, 1938 (Teleostei: Cypriniformes), with a description of a new species from Guangdong Province, South China, Zootaxa 3731 (1), pp. 171-182 : 172

Huigobio Fang, 1938

Type species. Huigobio chenhsienensis Fang, 1938

Diagnosis. Huigobio , as here delimited, belongs in the subtribe Armatogobionina, tribe Gobionini, subfamily Gobioninae . This subtribe also includes the following six genera: Abbottina , Biwia , Microphysogobio , Platysmacheilus , Pseudogobio and Saurogobio . These seven genera differ from all other genera of the Gobioninae in having thick, well-developed and usually papillated lips, and reduced gas bladders (the anterior chamber enveloped in a thick fibrous capsule, and the posterior chamber outside the capsule and smaller).

Huigobio is distinguished from all other genera of Armatogobionina by unique modifications in the lower lip ( Fig. 1 A–B). The lower lip is modified into two lateral lobes and a central pad. Each lateral lobe is expanded as a wing-shaped flap fully covered with papillae and contacting its counterpart posteromedially, but is not completely confluent. The central pad is small and heart-shaped, but is not longitudinally bisected. Huigobio is similar to Microphysogobio and Platysmacheilus in the shared possession of sharp horny sheaths on the cutting edges of upper and lower jaws ( Fig. 1 A–D), by which these three genera can be easily distinguished from all other genera of the Armatogobionina ( Fig. 1 E–F). Huigobio is similar to Microphysogobio , with which it shares a heart-shaped central pad of the lower lip. It is distinguished from this genus by having a lower lip with a smaller (vs. larger), heart-shaped, longitudinally non-bisected (vs. bisected) central pad, and two lateral lobes that are in contact posteromedially (vs. completely separated by the central pad) ( Fig.1 A–C). Huigobio is similar to Platysmacheilus in the shared presence of well-developed, papillated, and wing-shaped lateral lobes of the lower lip. It is distinct from this genus in possessing a lower lip with (vs. without) a heart-shaped central pad, and two lateral lobes that are in contact posteromedially but are not confluent (vs. confluent) ( Fig. 1 A, B, and D).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ventral view of oromandibular structures in: (A) Huigobio exilicauda, IHB 76 IV 6232, 66.7 mm SL; South China: Guangdong Province: a tributary of upper Pearl River at Lechang City; (B) Huigobio chenhsienensis, IHB 74 IX 4610, 79.4 mm SL; South China: Zhejiang Province: Ling-Jiang basin at Xianju County; (C) Microphysogobio nudiventris, IHB 2011040304, 64.7 mm SL; South China: Hubei Province: Du-He, a tributary flowing into the Han-Jiang basin at Zhushan County; (D) Platysmacheilus exiguus, IHB 87 V 057, 117.2 mm SL; South China: Guizhou Province: Qingshui-Jiang at Kaili City; (E) Pseudogobio vaillanti, IHB 81 VII 1308, 108.7 mm SL; South China: Henan Province: Bai-He basin at Xinye County; (F) Abbottina rivularis, IHB 77 VI 2736, 69.6 mm SL; West China: Gansu Province: Beida-He basin at Jiuquan City. Abbreviations: cp = central pad; lj = lower jaw; ll = lateral lobe of lower lip; rc = rostral cap; uj = upper jaw; ul = upper lip.