Barbatula nuda ( Bleeker, 1865 )

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 : 6

Barbatula nuda ( Bleeker, 1865)

( Fig. 4–6 )

Nemacheilus nudus Bleeker, 1865: 12 ( Mongolia, but brought from China).

Barbatula stoliczkai shansi Nichols, 1925: 6 (Mai-tai-chao, Shansi, Inner Mongolia).

Material examined. HU 16088285, 1608875, 1608322, 1608286–87, 1608147, 6, 59.6–82.4 mm SL; China: Liaoning prov.: Taizi River east of Xiaobeihezhen, Liao River drainage, 41°36′N 122°85′E (12); Hao Chen, Oct. 2016.

Material used in the molecular genetic analysis. HU1608308, 1608286–87; China: Liaoning prov.: Taizi River east of Xiaobeihezhen, Liao River drainage, 41°36′N 122°85′E (12). (GenBank accession numbers: KY451925 –27).

Diagnosis. Barbatula nuda is distinguished from the other species of Barbatula in north-eastern China by a combination of characters, none of them unique: upper lip with a deep median incision, its depth is 40–60% of the width of the upper lip; mental lobe flattened; lower lip without lateral expansion ( Fig. 6a ); upper jaw partly covered by the upper lip; snout blunt; anterior and posterior nostril closely set ( Fig. 6b ); snout as long as the postorbital head length; dorsal profile slightly convex; 7½ branched dorsal-fin rays; pelvic-fin origin situated below the vertical through the dorsal-fin origin; and scales restricted to the back and flank behind the dorsal-fin base.

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

Distribution. Only known from China where it has been found in the Taizi River (a tributary of the Liao River in the Liaoning province) and in the Tumen River drainage ( Cao et al. 2012). See Figure 2 for details.

Remarks. Bleeker (1865) originally described B. nuda (as Nemacheilus nudus ) based on one individual (MNHN 0000–1450) brought from China by Armand David (1826–1900) without a precise location given. The place at which Armand David collected the type of B. nuda is and probably will remain unclear. Armand David visited the present-day Chongli County, Beijing and Jehol from 1862 to 1864, including parts of present-day Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Liaoning provinces, but the exact origin of MNHN 0000–1450 was not given. Cao et al. (2012) examined the type of B. nuda at MNHN and suggested that it originates from the Daling or Liao Rivers in the Chinese Liaoning province, based on similarity to fishes in these areas, but not in others visited by Armand David.

Cao et al. (2012) and Prokofiev (2016a) identified Barbatula from the Taizi River (IHB 88V 0138, 88V 0142, 88V 0145– 9, 88V 0151, 88V 0157–62, 16, 56.6–88.3 mm SL) and Tumen River (IHB 77VII 3477–9, 3, 72.7–79.4 mm SL) as B. nuda . We searched without success for this material at IHB. The morphological characteristics of B. nuda described here are based on individuals collected from the Taizi River, which are similar to those described by Cao et al. (2012) and Prokofiev (2016a).

Figures

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

FIGURE 4. Barbatula nuda, from the top: HU1608322, 63.3 mm SL; HU1608286, 78.1 mm SL China: Liaoning prov.: Liao River drainage.

FIGURE 5. Barbatula nuda, from the top: HU1608147, 59.6 mm SL; HU1608322, 63.3 mm SL China: Liaoning prov.: Liao River drainage.

FIGURE 6. Barbatula nuda, HU1608322, 63.3 mm SL; China: Liaoning prov.: Liao River drainage. Scale bars: a–b = 1 mm, e = 0.1 mm.