A new troglobitic loach Triplophysa tianlinensis (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from Guangxi, China

Abstract

A new cave-dwelling species Triplophysa tianlinensis sp. nov. is described based on specimens collected from a karst cave in Hongxing Village, Langping Town, Tianlin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The new species can be distinguished from its congeners by following a combination of characters: tip of pectoral fin not reaching pelvic-fin origin; body unpigmented, smooth and scaleless; dorsal fin with 8–9 branched rays, its origin anterior to pelvic-fin origin; black pigmented, rudimentary orbital spot; lateral line complete; 0+10 gill rakers on the first gill arch. Additionally, although the new species and Triplophysa langpingensis are from the cave of Langping Town, the new species could be distinguished from T. langpingensis by the following character: lateral line completed, 3+10 infraorbital and 15 preoperculo-mandibular pores.