
Yahui ZhaoInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yahui Zhao
PhD
About
168
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
January 2010 - May 2015
June 1997 - present
Education
September 2000 - July 2006
Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences
Field of study
- Zoology
Publications
Publications (168)
The Tumen River, which delineates the border between China, North Korea, and Russia, is a vital river in Northeast Asia. Understanding its current fish diversity holds significant scientific value for aquatic ecological protection. Therefore, traditional and eDNA sampling were conducted from 2022 to 2023. Integrating the historical literature with...
Fish can use hydrodynamic stimuli, decoded by lateral line systems, to explore the surroundings. Eyeless species of the genus Sinocyclocheilus have evolved conspicuous horns on their heads, whereas the specific function of which is still unknown. Meanwhile, the eyeless cavefish exhibits more sophisticated lateral line systems and enhanced behaviora...
The Chinese section of the Irtysh River Basin and the Ulungur River Basin, two major river basins of the Altay region, are located at the northwest of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. As an international river, the Chinese section has seven state-level protected fish and seven local-level protected species as well. Many more commercial sp...
This chapter within the book, "Diversity and Speciation of Subterranean Fauna", is now available: https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12872/cave-biodiversity
China supports the highest diversity of cavefishes in the world. With 148 known species, this accounts for one-third of all cavefishes globally. In this chapter, we review Chinese cavefish...
The determination of a species trophic niche can clarify its functional role within a food web and how prey resources are used in relation with the spatial and temporal variability of environmental conditions. This information may result particularly useful for the implementation of conservation plans of endangered species having a cryptic behaviou...
The trophic niche of a species is one of the fundamental traits of species biology. The ideal trophic niche of a species is realized in the absence of interspecific competition, targeting the most profitable and easy-to-handle food resources. However, when a competitor is present, species adopt different strategies to reduce competition and promote...
Genetic differentiation in aquatic organisms is usually shaped by drainage connectivity. Sympatric aquatic species are thus expected to show similar population differentiation patterns and similar genetic responses to their habitats. Water bodies on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) have recently experienced dramatic physicochemical changes, threaten...
Insufficient data on the origins of the first introduced propagule and the initial stages of invasion complicate the reconstruction of a species’ invasion history. Phylogeography of the native area profoundly shapes the genomic patterns of the propagules on which subsequent demographic processes of the invasion are based. Thus, a better understandi...
A new gobionine species, Microphysogobio oujiangensis sp. nov., was collected from the Oujiang River basin during field work in Lishui City, Zhejiang Province in 2021. The new species can be well distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following characteristics: mouth shallow arc-shaped, width of cutting edge on upper jaw equal t...
Underwater video recorded at one of the sampling localities, Andamuhe River, a tributary drains into the Chaohe River, Haihe River Basin, Miyun District, Beijing; 2020. 08. 11; recorded by Zhixian Sun.
Sarcocheilichthys sciistius are feeding on algae.
Sarcocheilichthys sciistius was originally described by Abbott in 1901. It was considered as a synonym of S. nigripinnis by later researchers. However, some recent studies suggested that S. nigripinnis from the Haihe River Basin and Yellow River Basin were different to S. nigripinnis distributed in southern China, and that these populations show a...
This data set collects capture–mark–recapture data, biometric data, and stomach contents of seven populations of the Italian cave salamander (Speleomantes italicus), one of the strictly protected European plethodontid species endemic to mainland Italy. We monitored six subterranean populations inside caves, and one fully epigean population living i...
Brazil’s caves, home to diverse species and minerals, were stripped of protections by a recent presidential decree.
Based on morphological and molecular analysis of Homatula species distributed in the Nanpanjiang River in Yunnan, China, we described a new species, Homatula robusta sp. nov. It differs from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: naked and robust body with well-developed crests (caudal peduncle depth as a percentage of its leng...
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has been used in research relevant to fish ecology such as species diversity and conservation studies, threatened and invasive species monitoring, and analyses of population structure and distribution. How to choose the optimal laboratory protocols on the basis of the research targets is the first question to be considered...
Twenty-five species of fresh-water fishes from the Wuyishan National Park were placed in this poster. We try our best to make a figure summary of our surveys findings in the Minjiang River Basin (only includes tributary Jianxi and tributary Futunxi), Fujian Province, southeast China. Rhinogobius species were excluded in this poster.
The illustrati...
Microphysogobio bicolor (Nichols, 1930), a species which has long been synonymized with Microphysogobio fukiensis (Nichols, 1926), is revalidated in this study, based on morphological comparison and molecular phylogenetic analysis. The species can be distinguished from congeners by the following characters: mouth horseshoe-shaped, central portion o...
A new gobionine species, Microphysogobio oujiangensis sp. nov., was collected from the Oujiang River Basin during field work in Lishui City, Zhejiang Province in 2021. The new species can be well distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following characteristics: mouth shallow arc-shaped, width of cutting edge on upper jaw equal t...
The Dingqu River Basin, a major tributary of the upper Yangtze River, is located at southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. The fishes of this plateau constitute a major faunal component of this basin, particularly Schizothoracinae (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae). Hydropower development is an...
Asexual vertebrates are rare and at risk of extinction due to their restricted adaptability through the loss of genetic recombination. We explore the mechanisms behind the generation and maintenance of genetic diversity in triploid asexual (gynogenetic) Carassius auratus fish, which is widespread in East Asian fresh waters and exhibits one of the m...
A new gudgeon species, Huigobio heterocheilus sp. nov., is described from the Yangtze River Basin, southern China. The new species can be distinct from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: medial pad on lower lip invisible; mid-ventral region before pelvic-fin insertion scaleless; lateral line scales 39–40; caudal peduncle de...
Aim
Understanding the phylogeography of a species complex can provide important insights into its evolutionary history. However, phylogeographic inference often faces the dilemma of regionally inadequate sampling. Pungitius sticklebacks are a case in point: although the highest species diversity is found in Northeast Asia, their phylogeography in t...
The 15th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP15) will be held in Kunming, China in October 2021. Historically, CBDs and other multilateral treaties have either alluded to or entirely overlooked the subterranean biome. A multilateral effort to robustly examine, monitor, and incorporate the subterranean biome into future conservation targ...
Animal colouration is a phenotypic trait that can provide important information on species ecology and adaptation. Describing animal colours can be very challenging, and digital images may help in this difficult task. Obtaining an image with colours similar to those observed in nature is not trivial, as many factors can alter the final result. Some...
The 15th UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (COP15) will be held in Kunming, China in October 2021. Historically, CBDs and other multilateral treaties have either alluded to or entirely overlooked the subterranean biome. A multilateral effort to robustly examine, monitor, and incorporate the subterranean biome into future conservation targ...
Speleomantes are the only plethodontid salamanders present in Europe. Multiple studies have been performed to investigate the trophic niche of the eight Speleomantes species, but none of these studies included hybrid populations. For the first time, we studied the trophic niche of five Speleomantes hybrid populations. Each population was surveyed t...
European plethodontid salamanders (genus Speleomantes; formerly Hydromantes) are a group of eight strictly protected amphibian species which are sensitive to human-induced environmental changes. Long-term monitoring is highly recommended to evaluate their status and to assess potential threats. Here we used two low-impact methodologies to build up...
The genus Microphysogobio was established by Mori [Mori, T. (1934). The fresh water fishes of Jehol. In Report of the first scientific expedition to Manchoukuo. 1: pp. 1–61] based on a single specimen (Microphysogobio hsinglungshanensis) collected in the Luanhe River basin, Xinglong County, Hebei Province, China. Because the genus characteristics w...
Invasive species are significant contributors to global changes and constitute a severe threat to biodiversity. Yet invasions offer an incredible framework to understand how small and low-diverse introduced populations adapt to novel environmental conditions and succeed in colonizing large areas. However, due to the insufficient data on the origin...
The worldwide biodiversity crisis with the resulting need to increase species protection
has led researchers to pursue and select survey methods that guarantee the best
quality of data and produce the least negative effects on wild animals. Plethodontids
are the most diverse family of salamanders; all species are very sensitive to human
handling an...
Usually, biospeleological studies focus on cave-specialist taxa showing strong adaptation to the subterranean environment, as their unusual morphological and ecological features represent intriguing case studies. On the other hand, species occurring in subterranean environments but without marked adaptations have been generally overlooked, probably...
Rapid adaptation to global change can counter vulnerability of species to population declines and extinction. Theoretically, under such circumstances both genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity can maintain population fitness, but empirical support for this is currently limited. Here, we aim to characterize the role of environmental and geneti...
Cavefishes represent one of the most bizarre and intriguing life forms inhabiting groundwater environments. One‐third of the known cavefishes worldwide is endemic to China, and almost half of those belongs to a single genus, Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Analyzing the morphometrics of three Sinocyclocheilus species, we aimed to asse...
The adaptive evolution of visual systems has been observed in many cavefish. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptations, which include regressive changes such as eye degeneration. Here, we analyzed phylogenetic and expression patterns of six eye‐related genes (crx , foxg1b , opn1sw2 , otx2 , rho, and sox2 )...
Measurement(s)
morphometric parameter • color • length • biological sex • age • color pattern • body size trait
Technology Type(s)
photography
Factor Type(s)
salamander species • site of data collection • geographic location • salamander populations
Sample Characteristic - Organism
Hydromantes strinatii • Hydromantes ambrosii • Hydromantes italicus...
European cave salamanders of the genus Hydromantes are a group of eight species endemic to Italy and southeastern France. Knowledge on the trophic niche of European Hydromantes is poor, and the few available studies only partially investigate their feeding habits. We performed an in-depth study on the trophic niche of the Ambrosi's cave salamander...
Systematic data collection on species and their exploited environments is of key importance for conservation studies. Within the less-known environments, the subterranean ones are neither easy to be studied, nor to be explored. Subterranean environments house a wide number of specialised organisms, many of which show high sensitivity to habitat alt...
In this study, the lateral line systems in Chinese cavefish eyeless Sinocyclocheilus tianlinensis and eyed S. macrophthalmus were investigated to reveal their morphological changes to survive in harsh environments. To adapt to the dark cave environments, the lateral line system in the eyeless cavefish S. tianlinensis (typical) has, compared with th...
A new loach Oreonectes guilinensis sp. nov. is described from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It is the second surface‐dwelling fish identified in the genus Oreonectes after the type species Oreonectes platycephalus. This new species can be distinguished from other species within the genus by the combination of the following features: a ro...
Chinese cavefishes are a bizarre and interesting vertebrate taxa, but one with relatively little research. China holds the highest global cavefish diversity, accounting for about one-third of known species. Sinocyclocheilus is the largest genus of cavefishes in the world and is endemic to the south of China. The distribution of Sinocyclocheilus spe...
Cave adaptation has given rise to a diversity of unusual morphologies. One prominent character in Chinese cavefishes of the genus Sinocyclocheilus is the presence of a skull horn and a dorsal hump. These characters are present only in species that are troglobitic. Here we examine the osteological growth that underlies the horn and the hump of the s...
The Chinese false gudgeon, Abbottina rivularis, is a common cyprinid fish that is widely distributed throughout continental East Asia, but exhibits a restricted, discontinuous distribution in western Japan, including Honshu and Kyushu islands. In this study, analyses of mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear (glyt, myh6, and RAG1) genes were cond...
Length‐weight relationships (LWRs) were estimated for four cavefish species belonging to the genus Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) occurring in the Nanpanjiang River and Hongshuihe River, which constitute the upstream of the species, S. angularis, S. furcodorsalis, S. rhinocerous, and S. tileihornes, were collected from 2011 to 2017. T...
Shih-Pin Huang, I-Shiung Chen, Yahui Zhao, and Kwang-Tsao Shao (2018)Microphysogobio luhensis n. sp., a new cyprinid species, is described from the Rongjiang River in eastern Guangdong Province, China. Morphological characters and molecular evidence based on mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome b (Cyt b) and Cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences wer...
Cavefishes are a distinctive group of animals restricted to subterranean environments for at least for part of their lives. Their level of troglomorphism differentiates them into groups: stygobionts (troglomorphic) and stygophiles/stygoxenes (non-troglomorphic). China is home to the greatest diversity of cavefishes in the world, with more than 76 e...
The genetic variability and population structure of introduced species in their native range are potentially important determinants of their invasion success, yet data on native populations are often poorly represented in relevant studies. Consequently, to determine the contribution of genetic structuring in the native range of topmouth gudgeon Pse...
Members of the freshwater halfbeak genus Dermogenys are hard to identify to the species level, despite several previous attempts to isolate fixed meristic, morphometric and colour pattern differences. This has led to ongoing confusion in scientific literature, records of species occurrence, and entries in museum collections. Here, a DNA barcoding s...
The genus Sinocyclocheilus (golden-line barbel) includes 25 species of cave-dwelling blind fish (cavefish) and more than thirty surface-dwelling species with normal vision. Cave environments are dark and generally nutrient-poor with few predators. Cavefish of several genera evolved convergent morphological adaptations in visual, pigmentation, brain...
Sinocyclocheilus cyphotergous was described by Dai in 1988 as Gibbibarbus cyphotergous based on a single specimen collected in Luodian County, Guizhou Province, China. The holotype (the only one type specimen) has been lost and the original description was vague and was published in a report with limited circulation. A specimen collected from the t...
It has hitherto been unknown whether the paradise fish Macropodus opercularis that inhabits the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, is native to the region or was introduced. This study examined the genetic identity of fish from five islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago (Okinoerabu, Okinawa, Yagaji, Kume, and Minamidaito islands) and compared it with those fro...
Microphysogobio zhangi n. sp., a new cyprinid species is described from Guangxi Province, China. Morphological and molecular evidence based on mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome b (Cyt b) sequence were used for comparing this new species and other related species. The phylogenetic tree topology revealed that this new species is closely related to M. elon...
Rose bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus, is a small cyprinid fish distributed in East Asia. To infer its phylogeography and genetic structure, specimens from Taiwan, China, and Japan were collected, and complete mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) DNA sequences were amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses identified seven mitochondrial lineages (A...
Length–weight relationships of two cavefish species, Sinocylocheilus jii Zhang & Dai, (Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 17, 1992, 377) and Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis Ji, 1985, were calculated based on data from 186 specimens sampled by gill nets and fish traps from subterranean rivers of the Pearl River basin in China between 2008 and 2014. Results ind...