Schizopygopsis chengi duokeheensis, Tian & Liu & Chen & Zhao, 2025

Tian, Fei, Liu, Sijia, Chen, Shengxue & Zhao, Kai, 2025, Revision of Schizopygopsis chengi Fang 1936 (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae), with a description of a new subspecies, Zootaxa 5590 (4), pp. 481-506 : 499-501

Schizopygopsis chengi duokeheensis , subsp. nov., Zhao, et al., ( Fig. 10 , Tables 3 and 8)

Holotype NWIPB2107029 , total length 218.00 mm; standard length 183.40 mm; Western China: Qinghai Province: Zhiqin Village: Duoke River , one of the headstreams of the Dadu River ; 100.46 E, 32.57 N; collected by S. Liu and K. Zhao, July 2021

Paratypes NWIPB2107030–53 (24), 48–276 mm SL, collected with the holotype .

Diagnosis

Schizopygopsis chengi duokeheensis is distinguished from S. c. chengi by having an anal scaly sneath ending nearly or slightly in front of the midpoint between the ventral and anal fins. It differed from S. c. baoxingensis by having dense outside and inside gill rakers on the first gill arch.

Description

D. iv, 8; P. i, 18–21; V. i, 9; A. iii, 5; vertebrae 4 + 44–46.

The morphometric measurements are shown in Table 7.

Body elongate, slightly flat. Greatest depth at origin of dorsal fin. Dorsal profile convex and sloping. Ventral profile flat. Head slightly conical. Snout obtuse and round. Mouth inferior, oral fissure transverse, ventral view of margin of lower jaw horseshoe-shaped. Lip narrow, and the inner side of the lower jaw sharp with a strong horny layer. Lower lip with two lateral lobes, posterior groove of the lower lip discontinued. No barbels. Eye round, moderate. Nostrils 2 on each side, above the anterior edge of eye, near eye edge relative to tip of snout. Gill rakers short and dense. Pharyngeal teeth in 2 rows, 4.3/3.4; slightly hooked and pointed at tip and with a concave grinding surface. Body entirely naked with 2–4 rows of scales above the pectoral axil. Lateral line complete, flat and straight, along middle of the body and caudal peduncle. Last unbranched dorsal fin ray weak with small and few serratures at the posterior edge. The anterior and posterior angles of dorsal fin roundish corner. The origin of the dorsal fin almost at the midpoint between the tip of the snout and the base of the caudal fin. Anal scaly sneath ending nearly or slightly in front of the midpoint between the ventral and anal fins. Anal opening proximity to the origin of the anal fin. Caudal forked, the lower lobe slightly longer than the upper one.

Color pattern

For alcohol-preserved specimens, back gray to brown, abdomen yellowish, whole body with blackish brown spots, and the dorsal and caudal fins with black spots.

Ecology

Distribution and habitats

Schizopygopsis chengi duokeheensis is distributed exclusively in the Duoke River in Bama County, Qinghai Province, China ( Fig. 11 ). The coexisting fish was Triplophysa markehenensis .

Schizopygopsis chengi duokeheensis inhabits cold highland streams with a substrate of sand, pebbles and gravels at altitudes of 3000–4000 m above sea level. It mainly feeds on plant fragments and algae growing on pebbles and gravels.

Etymology

The name of the new subspecies, duokeheensis, is derived from the Duoke River (多ḁñ), where the species inhabits. The Chinese name for this species is suggested as 大ăẹṳaeḛ多ḁ亚ª.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Holotype of S. c. duokeheensis. a. The lateral view of holotype S. c. duokeheensis. b. The dorsal view of holotype S. c. duokeheensis. c. The ventral view of holotype S. c. duokeheensis. d. The morphology of anal fin in holotype S. c. duokeheensis. The inner (e) and outer (f) side gill arch from left side of S. c. duokeheensis.

FIGURE 11. The habit of S. c. duokeheensis in the Duoke River.