Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis Luo, Chen & Zhou, 2025

Chen, Zhi-Xia, Luo, Tao, Zhao, Zi-Fa, Xiao, Ming-Yuan, Zhou, Jia-Jun & Zhou, Jiang, 2025, Integrative taxonomy describes a new species of the genus Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) from the Beipanjiang River, Guizhou Province, southwest China, Zoosystematics and Evolution 101 (3), pp. 1099-1111 : 1099-1111

Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis Luo, Chen & Zhou sp. nov.

Fig. 4 , Suppl. material 2

Type material.

Holotype • GZNU 20191121001 , total length 86.5 mm (TL), standard length 69.6 mm (SL), collected on 21 November 2019, in Huajiazhuang Village [花家庄村], Hongguo Town, Panzhou City, Guizhou Province, China (25.78963600°N, 104.49121600°E; ca. 1761 m a. s. l.).

Paratypes. • Fifteen specimens from the same locality as the paratypes • Ten specimens, GZNU 20191121001 , GZNU 20191121002 – GZNU 20191121011 , 43.5–110.4 mm SL, stored at the Guizhou Normal University ( GZNU), Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, China . • Five specimens, IHB 202308066776 – IHB 202308066780 , 51.8–66.6 mm SL, stored at the Museum of Aquatic Organisms at the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China .

Etymology.

The specific epithet “ panzhouensis ” refers to the type locality of the new species: Panzhou City, Guizhou Province, China. We propose the common English name “ Panzhou Golden-lined Barbel ” and the Chinese name “ Pán Zhōu Jīn Xiàn Bā (盘州金线鲃) ”.

Diagnosis.

Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characteristics: (1) absence of a horn-like structure and indistinct elevation at the head-dorsal junction; (2) body covered with tiny, partially embedded subcutaneous scales and irregular black markings; (3) wide mouth (7.8–9.3 % of standard length) and longer pectoral fin (17.9–30.6 % of standard length); (4) last unbranched ray of the dorsal fin with weak serrations along the posterior margin; (5) tip of the pectoral fins not reaching the pelvic-fin origin; (6) complete and curved lateral line with 71–79 pores; (7) eight gill rakers on the first gill arch.

Description.

Fin counts and morphometric measurements for the type specimens are provided in Suppl. material 2.

Body fusiform, moderately elongated and compressed; maximum body depth positioned at insertion of dorsal-fin. Dorsal profile convex from snout tip to dorsal-fin base end and slightly concave after dorsal-fin base. Ventral profile of pre-anal part slightly convex and slightly concave after anal-fin origin.

Head short (27.4–30.5 % of SL), compressed, with large eyes (16.5–24.3 % HL); snout short, U-shaped, projecting beyond lower jaw. Mouth subinferior, arched, slightly projecting lower jaw; two pairs of barbels; rostral barbels slightly longer (7.5–13.8 % of SL), tips reaching the anterior margin of the eye; maxillary barbel slightly short (6.4–12.4 % of SL), tips extending beyond the posterior margin of the eye, but reaching the anterior margin of the operculum. Gill opening moderate, opercular membranes connected at isthmus. Eight outer rakers on first gill arch. Pharyngeal teeth in three rows with counts of 2, 3, 4–4, 3, 2; pharyngeal teeth strong and well developed, with curved and pointed tips. Two pairs of nostrils, anterior nostril close to posterior nostril.

Dorsal-fin rays iii, 7, pectoral-fin rays i, 14, pelvic-fin rays i, 8, anal-fin rays iii, 5 and 17 branched caudal-fin rays. Dorsal fin short (19.9–24.5 % of SL), with a distal margin truncated, origin opposite to pelvic-fin origin, situated slightly anterior to mid-point between snout tip and caudal-fin base; last unbranched ray strong, softening towards tip, with weak serrations along posterior margin; first branched ray longest, tip beyond the vertical of the anus. Pectoral fin moderately elongated (17.9–29.8 % of SL), distal margin truncated, tips not reaching the pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic fin moderately developed (13.3–16.1 % of SL), with a distal margin rounded; tips not reaching the anus. Anal fin short (14.1–18.7 % of SL), with a distal margin rounded; base origin close to the anus, tips not reaching the caudal-fin base. Caudal fin deeply forked, upper lobe equal in length to the lower one, tips pointed.

Body covered with tiny, partially embedded subcutaneous scales. Lateral line incomplete and curved, with pores 71–79. With irregular black markings (~ 85–96) scattered on and above the lateral line, almost in a straight line, two rows of irregular black spots are clearly visible on the dorsal surface and a large black spot in the centre of the end of the caudal peduncle.

Colouration.

In life, the body is light golden yellow overall with transparent fins. In 10 % formalin solution, the specimen was greyish-brown overall, with each fin pale yellow.

Geographical distribution.

Currently, the new species is found only at the type locality, inhabiting burrows connected to surface rivers. Many ecological information about this new species is currently unknown, as Rhinogobius giurinus has also been found in the same rivers. The locality of discovery belongs to the Beipanjiang River Basin (Fig. 1 ).

Morphological comparisons.

The new species was placed in the S. tingi group, based on phylogeny and morphology. Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov. is distinguished sequentially from the 50 species belonging to the S. angularis , S. microphthalmus , S. jii and S. cyphotergous groups by the absence of horn-like structures and indistinct elevation at the head-dorsal junction (vs. presence in S. angularis , S. microphthalmus and S. cyphotergous groups), weak serrations along the posterior margin of the last unbranched fin of the dorsal fin (vs. absent in S. jii group) and tip of pectoral fins not reaching the pelvic-fin origin (vs. usually reaching the pelvic-fin origin in S. cyphotergous group) ( Zhao and Zhang 2009). For the 28 species of the S. tingi group, the new species can be clearly distinguished by subsequent characterisation.

Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov. is distinguished from S. anophthalmus , S. longifinus , S. macrocephalus , S. qujingensis , S. yangzongensis and S. xiejiahuai by the presence of irregular lateral markings (vs. absent in the latter); from S. bannaensis (vs. 9), S. grahami (vs. 15–17), S. huaningensis (vs. 16), S. huizeensis (vs. 15–16), S. lateristriatus (vs. 15–16), S. macroscalus (vs. 15–16), S. purpureus (vs. 16) and S. wumengshanensis (vs. 16) by having 14 branched pectoral-fin rays; from S. guishanensis (vs. 15–16), S. maculatus (vs. 16), S. maitianheensis (vs. 18), S. malacopterus (vs. 15–16), S. qiubeiensis (vs. 16), S. tingi (vs. 16) and S. wenshanensis (vs. 14–15) by having 17 branched caudal-fin ray; and S. aluensis (vs. 5–7), S. xichouensis (vs. 6), S. xingrenensis (vs. 6) and S. yimenensis (vs. 5–7) by 8 rakers on the first gill arch.

Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov. is distinguished from S. angustiporus by having 17 branched caudal-fin rays (vs. 15–16), wide mouth (7.8–9.3 % SL vs. 5.1–6.0 %) and longer pectoral fin (17.9–30.6 % SL vs. 16.8–19.9 %); from S. robustus and S. lateristriatus by 13 branched pectoral-fin rays (vs. 14 and 15–16), six branched pelvic-fin rays (vs. 7–8), lateral line incomplete (vs. complete in the S. lateristriatus ) and indistinct elevation at the head-dorsal junction (vs. distinct in the S. robustus ).

For the four species not placed in any species group, the new species differs from S. pingshanensis , S. gracilis and S. wui by the presence of irregular lateral markings (vs. absent). The new species differs from S. luolouensis by covered with tiny scales (vs. large scales), large eyes (vs. eyes reduced), lateral line pores 71–79 (vs. 40–49) and tips of pectoral fin not reaching the pelvic-fin origin (vs. beyond the pelvic-fin origin).

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution of the new species Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov., 28 species of the S. tingi group and the genus Sinocyclocheilus in Guizhou Province, China. The base maps are from Standard Map Service website (http://bzdt.ch.mnr.gov.cn/).

Figure 4. Sinocyclocheilus panzhouensis sp. nov. preserved in 10 % formalin solution. A. Lateral view; B. Ventral view; C. Dorsal view.