Sinocyclocheilus zhenningensis Wang, Luo & Zhang, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wang, Leishan
name: Luo, Qi
name: Zhang, Renyi
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Cypriniformes
Cyprinidae
Sinocyclocheilus
Sinocyclocheilus zhenningensis

description: Sinocyclocheilus zhenningensis sp. nov.
Figs 1, 2, Table 2
Holotype.
GZNUSLS 202201109, one specimen (ZN-7), 98.5 mm SL; Dabang-He of Beipan-Jiang at Kongma Village (26°14'24"N, 105°36'49"E), Biandanshan Town, Zhenning County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, China; collected by Renyi Zhang and Qi Luo on 5 January 2022.
Paratype.
GZNUSLS 202307047 –51, five specimens, 59.3–142.1 mm SL, Dabang-He of Beipan-Jiang at Aozizhai village (23°11'39"N, 106°25'53"E), Biandanshan Town, Zhenning County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, China; collected by Renyi Zhang, Leishan Wang, Huan Cheng, and Renrong Huang in 8–9 July 2023. GZNUSLS 202201060, GZNUSLS 202201108, two specimens, 74.3–95.8 mm SL; all other data same as holotype.
Etymology.
The specific epithet, used as a noun in apposition, is derived from the name of the type locality (Zhenning County). We propose this new cavefish with the English common name Zhenning Golden-lined Barbel and the Chinese common name Zhèn níng Jīn Xiàn Bā (镇宁金线鲃).
Diagnosis.
The new species is assigned to the S. cyphotergous - S. multipunctatus group of the genus Sinocyclocheilus based on the Cytb genes phylogenetic analysis and morphological characters. Sinocyclocheilus zhenningensis sp. nov. can be differentiated from other known congeners by the following combination of morphological characters: (1) normal eyes (5.8 % – 8.2 % SL) (vs absence or degeneration), presence of pigmentation (vs absence); no horn structure (vs presence), with a humpback (vs absence); (2) pelvic-fin rays ii- 8 (vs i- 8), dorsal-fin rays iii- 8, stiff and stout last unbranched ray (vs soft and no serrations); (3) body depth normal (26.5 % – 30.1 % SL) and covered with irregular black spots (vs no irregular black spots), body scaled, but scales buried beneath the skin (vs absence or degeneration); (4) lateral line complete (vs absence or degeneration), flat and slightly curved at the bottom of the corresponding dorsal fin, 42–47 lateral line pored scales (vs> 47); and (5) pectoral-fin length short, not reaching anterior base of pelvic fin (vs pectoral-fin length reaching or exceeding anterior base of pelvic fin).
Description.
General body appearance is given in Fig. 1. Measurement distances and meristic counts are shown in Table 2. Dorsal fin with three unbranched and eight-branched rays; pelvic fin with two unbranched and eight-branched anal-fin rays iii- 6 (5); pectoral fin with one unbranched and five-branched rays. Fifteen pre-dorsal vertebrae; total vertebrae 38 (N = 1); 9–10 inner-gill rakers on first gill arch (in eight specimens). Body scaled, but scales buried beneath the skin, covered with irregular black spots. Lateral line complete from uppermost point of gill slit to caudal-fin base, with 42–47 pored scales.
Body moderately elongated and laterally compressed, deeper than wide, with maximum depth immediately at dorsal-fin origin. Dorsal profile gently arched from snout tip to dorsal-fin origin, Pelvic-fin insertion anterior to vertical through dorsal-fin origin. ventral profile of head slightly curved, rounded between pectoral- and pelvic-fin insertion, and slightly concave or straight from pelvic-fin insertion to caudal-fin base.
Head triangular and compressed slightly, longer than deep, deeper than wide. Two pairs of nostrils, distance between tip of snout and anterior margin of orbit, exactly half of distance between two nostrils. Mouth subterminal and horse shoe-shaped; upper jaw slightly longer than lower jaw. Two pairs of barbels; rostral pair underneath anterior nostril, short and only slightly beyond posterior edge of posterior nostrils; maxillary barbels short, extending beyond anterior edge of eye, not reaching posterior-most edge of gill cover. Eye large, rounded. Gill rakers well-developed, with 9–10 in first branchial arch.
Dorsal fin with three unbranched and eight branched rays; last unbranched ray rigid at its base and gradually becoming softer toward the tip; with prominent serrations along its posterior edge; origin approximately halfway between tip of snout and caudal-fin base. Pectoral fin short, with one unbranched ray and 15 branched rays, inserted immediately under posterior-most edge of gill cover, tip of adpressed rays approaching to pelvic-fin insertion. Pelvic fins relatively short, with two unbranched rays and eight branched rays; inserted below dorsal-fin origin; tip of adpressed rays not extending to anus. Anal fin with three unbranched rays and 5 or 6 branched rays; origin slightly posterior to anus, and closer to pelvic-fin insertion than to caudal-fin base. Caudal fin deeply forked.
Coloration.
In freshly collected individuals, ground color of body golden yellow or brown dorsally and laterally, and pale whitish on belly. A distinct gold line above lateral line, anteriorly lighter, and many black bars of various sizes scattered over dorsum. Dark yellow band along middle of flank before anal-fin origin, anteriorly deeper and becoming narrower backwards to end in a large rounded black bar on caudal-fin base, with five squarish brown blotches immediately above and five indistinct vertical bars below lateral line before anal-fin origin, and from then many small black bars on nearby area close to lateral line. Dorsal fin hyaline with pigments along branched rays, pectoral and pelvic fins white, and caudal fin grey and white, with black spots scattering on the middle of caudal-fin lobes to form an indistinct W-shaped mark.
In formalin-preserved individuals, dorsum and flank dark grey, chest and abdomen white with yellow, grey-white dorsal and caudal fins, pelvic- and pectoral-fins white. The preserved specimens in alcohol, showed distinct markings on their bodies, characterized by black spots of varying size, generally located exclusively above the lateral line, while fewer or no black spots below the lateral line were observed in the soaked specimens.
Distribution and habitat.
The holotype and paratype specimens were obtained from a karst cave in a subterranean river. The coexisting fishes include Pterocryptis anomala Herre, 1933 and an unidentified species of Triplophysa. There are many karst landforms in the area of the Dabang-He, a tributary of the Beipan-Jiang (Fig. 3). The entrance of the cave is less than 1.5 meters in width. The subterranean river drains into the Dabang-He (Fig. 4).
Genetic evidence from phylogenetic analysis.
The Cytb dataset, 1140 bp in length, was used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of sampled species of Sinocyclocheilus. Three amplified Cytb sequences of this new species have been submitted to GenBank (Table 1). The analysis revealed that S. zhenningensis sp. nov. is sister to the S. cyphotergous - S. multipunctatus subclade with strong support (bootstrap values = 1) (Fig. 5). In the BI phylogenetic tree, the S. cyphotergous - S. multipunctatus group (Shao et al. 2024) is nested within the S. cyphotergous group (Zhao and Zhang 2009) (Fig. 5). The genetic distances of S. zhenningensis sp. nov. ranged from 3.8 % (with S. cyphotergous) to 4.6 % (with S. punctatus) in the S. cyphotergous - S. multipunctatus group (Table 3). The minimum genetic distance between S. zhenningensis sp. nov. and S. cyphotergous (Table 3) exceeds the threshold of 2 % mitochondrial DNA variation, and both can be clearly distinguished morphologically.
description: Published as part of Wang, Leishan, Luo, Qi & Zhang, Renyi, 2025, A new species of Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) from the Beipan-Jiang in Guizhou, China, pp. 99-114 in ZooKeys 1238 on pages 99-114, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1238.136371