Barbatula kirinensis Tchang, 1932

Chen, Hao, Zhang, Hui, Chen, Yongxia & Freyhof, Jörg, 2019, A review of the Barbatula loaches (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from north-eastern China, with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 4565 (1), pp. 1-36 : 12-15

Barbatula kirinensis Tchang, 1932

( Fig. 13–15 )

Barbatula toni kirinensis: Tchang, 1932:115 ( China: Kirin: Ching-po Lake).

Material examined. HU 1809877–80, 4, 61.5–72.9 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: southern shore of Jingpo Lake, upper Songhua River of the middle Heilongjiang River drainage, 43°79’N 128°83’E (19).—HU 1608008, 1608014, 1608025, 1608043, 1608028–29, 1608057, 1608060, 1608063, 1608039, 1608065, 1608068–70, 1608113,15, 71.3–102.4 mm SL; FSJF 4044 , 4 , 77.9 – 95.4 mm SL ; China: Jilin prov.: Tumen River north-east of Tumen, 42°98′N 129°88′E (21); Hao Chen , Aug. 2016.—HU 1608008, 1608144, 2, 84.6–119.1 mm SL ; China: Jilin prov.: Zhu’Erduo River near Emu, upper Mudan River flowing into Songhua River of the middle Heilongjiang River drainage, 43°75′N 128°15′E (18); Hao Chen , Aug. 2016.— IHB 39 ix0536–40, 5, 78.6–106.3 mm SL ; China: Jilin prov.: Gaya River at Wangqing, upper Tumen River drainage (20).— IHB 89 ix0058, 89ix 0060–62, 89ix 0064– 65, 89ix 0073–74, 89ix 0164, 89ix 0290, 89ix 0293, 89ix 0295, 89ix 0297–98, 14, 73.2–124.0 mm SL ; China: Jilin prov.: Hunchun River at Chunhua, upper Tumen River drainage (22) .

Material used in the molecular genetic analysis. HU1608005–06; China: Jilin prov.: Tumen River, 42°98′N 129°88′E (21). (GenBank accession numbers: KY451922 –23).—HU1608144, China: Jilin prov.: Zhu’Erduo River, upper Mudan River flowing into Songhua River of the middle Heilongjiang River drainage, 43°75′N 128°15′E (18). (GenBank accession number: KY451921 ).—HU 1809878; China: Jilin prov.: Jingpo Lake, 43°79′N 128°83′E (19). (GenBank accession number: MH807449 ).

Diagnosis. Barbatula kirinensis is distinguished from the other species of Barbatula in north-eastern China by a combination of characters, none of them unique: having a shallow median incision in the upper lip, its depth 10– 20% of the width of the upper lip (vs. deep, 40–60% in B. nuda and B. gibba ), a short lateral expansion of the lower lip (vs. absent in B. nuda ), the upper jaw partly covered by the upper lip (vs. completely covered in B. toni and B. gibba ), nostrils widely spaced (vs. closely set in B. nuda ), snout shorter than the postorbital head length (vs. equal to in B. nuda and B. toni ), a slightly convex dorsal profile (caudal-peduncle depth 61–84% of body depth vs. convex, caudal-peduncle depth 42–55% in B. toni and B. gibba ), 7½ branched dorsal-fin rays (vs. 6½ in and B. potaninorum ), the pelvic-fin origin in front of the vertical through the dorsal-fin origin (vs. below in B. nuda ) and sparsely set scales on the back anterior to the dorsal-fin origin (vs. scales restricted to the back and flank behind the dorsal-fin base in B. nuda and B. gibba ).

See Table 3 for the character states shown by the different species of Barbatula found in north-eastern China.

Description. See Figure 13–14 for general appearance and Table 2 for morphometric data. Body elongate, roundish; caudal peduncle compressed. Dorsal profile slightly convex; caudal-peduncle depth 61–84% of body depth at dorsal-fin origin. Ventral profile between anal-fin base and caudal-fin origin concave. Head wider than deep, head depth 74–89% of its width at posterior margin of operculum. Mouth inferior and arched ( Fig. 15a ). Snout rounded, short and blunt; head width at posterior margin of operculum 1.3–1.4 times its width at anterior nostril. Snout shorter than postorbital head length. Eye small, set close to dorsal profile. Anterior and posterior nostril widely spaced ( Fig. 15b ), gap between nostrils equal or narrower than diameter of posterior nostril at base. Caudal fin truncated ( Fig. 14 ). Caudal-peduncle length 69–95% HL, caudal-peduncle width 41–60% its depth. Distance between anus and anal-fin origin slightly shorter than or equal to eye diameter. Dorsal-fin origin situated at middle or slightly behind middle between tip of snout and caudal-fin base. First dorsal-fin ray almost subdermal. Pelvic-fin origin situated below or in front of vertical through the dorsal-fin origin. Anal-fin origin anterior to midpoint between pelvic-fin origin and caudal-fin base.

Lateral line complete, reaching to caudal-fin base. Scales sparsely set on back anterior to dorsal-fin origin; absent on flank and belly anterior to dorsal-fin origin, sparsely set on back and flank behind dorsal-fin origin; densely set on caudal peduncle. Scales on caudal peduncle small, oval, with moderately large focal zone and 24–25 radial grooves ( Fig. 15c ). Tube of posterior nostril much shorter than tube of anterior nostril. Width of anterior nostril equal to or slightly smaller than width of posterior nostril ( Fig. 15b ). Upper jaw not completely covered by upper lip. Upper lip with very shallow median incision, its depth 10–20% of width of upper lip. Lower lip widely separate in middle. Mental lobe flattened. Interspace between mental lobes narrow, exposing small part of lower jaw. Lower lip with short lateral expansion, its length 50–100% of width of upper lip ( Fig. 15a ). Maxillary barbel usually reaching to vertical through posterior eye-margin, inner rostral barbel usually reaching to anterior half or middle between posterior nostril and anterior eye-margin, outer rostral barbel usually reaching to posterior half or middle of snout. In few individuals, barbels slightly shorter.

Dorsal-fin with 4 unbranched and 7½ branched rays. Anal fin with 2 unbranched and 5½ branched rays. Caudal fin with 7–8+8 branched rays. Pectoral fin with 1 unbranched and 11–12 branched rays. Pelvic fin with 1 unbranched and 6–7 branched rays. Infraorbital canal confluent with occipital canal, separated from supraorbital canal. Infraorbital canal with 11–13, supraorbital canal with 8–9, occipital canal with 3, mandibular canal and preopercular canal with 9–11 pores. Intestine Z-shaped, anterior margin of zigzag loop not touching U-shaped stomach.

Colouration in preservative. Background colour pale yellow with dark-brown pattern. Back with 6-8 large, dark-green bars. Interspaces between bars equal to width of them. Flank with large cloudy mottling. Caudal fin hyaline with 4–5 dark-brown bands formed by spots. Dorsal fin hyaline with 3–4 dark-brown bands formed by spots. Pectoral and pelvic fins hyaline, without pigmentation or with few small dark-brown blotches.

Sexual dimorphism. Males have a longer pectoral fin than females (pectoral-fin length 15–17% SL vs. 11– 15% in females) and the 2nd–7th branched pectoral-fin rays are thickened (vs. not thickened in females).

Distribution. Known from Jingpo Lake, Tumen River and Zhu’Erduo River. See Figure 2 for details.

Remarks. Tchang (1933) described B. kirinensis from the Jingpo Lake in the Chinese Jilin province. Kottelat (2012), Cao et al. (2012) and Prokofiev (2015) treated this species as a synonym of B. toni . Based on the characters mentioned in the original description, B. kirinensis is distinguished from B. toni by having a shorter caudal peduncle and a different colour pattern, but we found these two characters to be very variable and overlapping in both species. Tchang (1933) described B. kirinensis having the dorsal-fin with 7½ branched rays, a truncated caudal fin and the snout length about equal to the postorbital head length. In the loach pictured in the figure of B. kirinensis published by Tchang (1933), the snout is shorter than the postorbital head length, the dorsal profile is slightly convex and the pelvic-fin origin is situated below the vertical through the dorsal-fin origin. Those character states agree with the condition found in the material examined by us. As the type has been lost, we base our identification on fresh material from the type locality, Jingpo Lake. Our molecular and morphological data strongly suggest that B. kirinensis is a valid species distinct form B. toni .

Barbatula nuda has been found in the Tumen River drainage by Cao et al. (2012), but we found only one species of Barbatula in the Tumen River drainage, which we identify as B. kirinensis . Cao et al. (2012) also examined B. kirinensis (IHB 39ix 0536–40, 89ix 0058, 89ix 0060–62, 89ix 0064–65, 89ix 0073–74,89ix0164, 89ix 0290, 89ix 0293, 89ix 0295, 89ix 0297–98, 19, 73.2–124.0 mm SL) in the Tumen River drainage, but identified them as B. toni . We compared these specimens with our specimens of B. kirinensis and found no difference between them.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Map showing the collection sites. Details for each number are listed in material examined.

FIGURE 13. Barbatula kirinensis, from the top: HU1809877, 72.9 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: Jingpo Lake, Heilongjiang River drainage; HU1608014, 85.2 mm SL; HU1608113, 98.9 mm SL; IHB89ix0164, 73.2 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: Tumen River drainage.

FIGURE 14. Barbatula kirinensis, from the top: HU1809877, 72.9 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: Jingpo Lake, Heilongjiang River drainage; HU1608025, 102.4 mm SL; HU1608113, 98.9 mm SL; IHB89ix0164, 73.2 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: Tumen River drainage.

FIGURE 15. Barbatula kirinensis, HU 1608014, 85.2 mm SL; China: Jilin prov.: Tumen River drainage. Scale bars: a–b = 1 mm, c = 0.1 mm.