Vanmanenia tetraloba (Mai)

Li, Xu, Zhou, Wei & Che, Xing-Jin, 2019, Loaches of Vanmanenia (Cypriniformes: Gastromyzontidae) from Yunnan, China with Description of a New Species, Zootaxa 4603 (1), pp. 125-144 : 140

Vanmanenia tetraloba (Mai)

( Fig. 8 )

Homaloptera terraloba Mai 1978: 210 (Northern Vietnam). Ƒanmanenia tetraloba: Chen 1990: 85 (in part: Red River drainage, Yunnan); Chen & Tang 2000: 465 (in part: Red River drainage, Yunnan); Hao 2005: 272 (Northern Vietnam).

Material examined: SWFC 0010044–0010045, 2 ex., 80.1–81.8 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jinping County: Mengla; SWFC 0010028–0010030, 3 ex., 68.1–90.2 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jinping County: Zhemi; SWFC 9902208–9902209, 9902105–9902108, 6 ex., 69.0–83.0 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Mojiang County: Tuantian; SWFC 0512210–0512212, 0 512266, 4 ex., 77.7–84.3 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Mojiang County: Zhongaiqiao; SWFC 0412210–0412212, 0412218–0412228, 14 ex., 53.7–91.2 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Guoqing; SWFC 0412230–0412235, 6 ex., 77.4–96.1 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Baozang; SWFC 0512208–0512209, 2 ex., 75.9–80.5 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Qushui; SWFC 0412213–0412217, 0512239–0512250, 0712001–0712003, 20 ex., 70.1–93.4 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Niuluo; SWFC 0512213–0512238, 26 ex., 75.2–99.6 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Dazhai; SWFC 0512251–0512264, 14 ex., 65.4–93.7 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Erguanzhai; SWFC 0511105–0511108, 0 511110, 0 511112, 0511114–0511115 8 ex., 65.3–84.1 mm SL, China: Yunnan: Lvchun County: Daheishan.

Diagnosis: Vanmanenia tetraloba differs from the congeners belonging to the barred group in Vanmanenia by the following combination of characters: the flank with 10–15 regular bars with widths approximately equal to the eye diameter (vs. 14–22 regular bars with widths smaller than the eye diameter in V. microcephala and V. striata ); the dorsal part of the head covered with several dark brown vermiculations (vs. a large black blotch in V. microcephala , V. crassicauda , and V. serrilineata ); the gill opening larger and its upper angle level to the middle point of the eye (vs. the gill opening smaller and its upper angle level with the lower edge of the eye in V. microcephala ); the dorsal part of the body with 5–7 black saddles (vs. 7–9 in V. striata ); the patch of the caudal-fin base complete and connected to the upper and lower margins of the caudal peduncle (vs. dissociated and not connected to the upper and lower margins of the caudal peduncle in V. microcephala and V. striata ) ( Table 1 , 3 ).

Morphometric data as in Table 3 .

Distribution: Only found in the Lixian-jiang drainage (the upper Song Da or Black River, a main tributary of the Red River) ( Fig. 4 ).

Remark: Kottelat (2000) indicated that the V. tetraloba (= Homalosoma tetraloba Mai, 1978 ) could be distinguished from V. striata and V. crassicauda (the latter has plain bright yellow and orange fins in life [ Kottelat, 2000]) by its dark marks on the pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins. After examining specimens of Vanmanenia from Jinping and Jingcheng Counties, Yunnan, China, which are adjacent to northern Vietnam, there were no dark marks visible on their pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins. The original description by Mai (1978) also did not mention the marks on the fins and the figures in Mai (1978) were not detailed.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Localities of examined material of Ƒanmanenia. A symbol may represent several adjacent localities. 1—Lancangjiang drainage (the upper Mekong River); 2—Lixian-jiang (first branch of the Red River); 3—Yuan-jiang (the upper Red River); 4—Jinsha-jiang (the upper Yangtze River).

FIGURE 8. Ƒanmanenia tetraloba, SWFC 0512252, 75.3 mm SL; Yunnan: Jiangcheng County: Erguanzhai. Scale bar = 5 mm.