Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis , a new species from an endemic cavefish group (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) in China

Abstract

The endemic Chinese cavefish genus Sinocyclocheilus possesses very rich species diversity. Specimens of this genus collected from Guilin, Guangxi, China, were originally described
in an unpublished document in 1982. Later, they were recognized as Sinocyclocheilus jii. Comparison to the type specimens of S. jii leads to the conclusion that, though similar, they represent two different species. Herein we describe them as a new species,
Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov. It can be distinguished from all congeners by its possession of soft, unbranched dorsal ray without serrations,
19–20 (11–12) scale rows above (below) the lateral line, 34–36 circumpeduncular scales and 8–9 pre-dorsal vertebrae. Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov. is most similar to S. jii. In addition to the scale count differences, a morphometrics-based principal component analysis (PCA) also supports designation
of S. guilinensis and S. jii as two distinct species.

Full text

Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis, a new species from an endemic
cavefish group (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) in China
Yahui Zhao &Chunguang Zhang &Jie Zhou
Received: 22 September 2007 /Accepted: 26 March 2008 / Published online: 13 May 2008
#Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008
Abstract The endemic Chinese cavefish genus Sino-
cyclocheilus possesses very rich species diversity.
Specimens of this genus collected from Guilin, Guangxi,
China, were originally described in an unpublished
document in 1982. Later, they were recognized as
Sinocyclocheilus jii. Comparison to the type specimens
of S. jii leads to the conclusion that, though similar,
they represent two different species. Herein we
describe them as a new species, Sinocyclocheilus
guilinensis sp. nov. It can be distinguished from all
congeners by its possession of soft, unbranched dorsal
ray without serrations, 19–20 (11–12) scale rows above
(below) the lateral line, 34–36 circumpeduncular scales
and 8–9 pre-dorsal vertebrae. Sinocyclocheilus
guilinensis sp. nov. is most similar to S. jii. In addition
to the scale count differences, a morphometrics-based
principal component analysis (PCA) also supports
designation of S. guilinensis and S. jii as two distinct
species.
Keywords China .Sinocyclocheilus .Cavefish .
New species
Introduction
The cyprinid genus Sinocyclocheilus is endemic to the
karstric caves of the eastern Yunnan, middle-southern
Guizhou and notrthwestern Guangxi, China (Zhao
and Zhang 2006). Almost all species of the genus
Sinocyclocheilus are obligatory or facultative cave
dwellers. Rapid speciation due to isolation of small
populations in separate caves has contributed to the
genus’speciation (Zhao and Zhang 2006).
In 1982, Mr. Ji, a Chinese ichthyologist, described
a species based on specimens collected in Guilin,
which he named Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis. This
original description of S. guilinensis was in an
unpublished governmental report
1
. The original de-
scription is extremely succinct and lacks any compar-
ison to other species. In 1984, Zhou mentioned this
species along with a very simple description in
another internal report
2
. Since the original reference
describing the species was not formally published,
this species description is not valid according to the
rules (Article 8.1) of the International Code of
Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission
on Zoological Nomenclature 1999). Therefore, Chu
Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:137–142
DOI 10.1007/s10641-008-9344-8
Y. Zhao :C. Zhang (*)
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing 100101, China
e-mail: fish@ioz.ac.cn
J. Zhou
Fishery Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
Nanning 530021, China
1
An internal report for the government: Fishery Institute of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (1982) Influences on
fishery resources from pollution in the Lijiang River
2
Fishery Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
(1984) Investigative Report on the fishery stocks of the inland
waters in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, 487 pp.

and Cui (1985) suggested that S. guilinensis should be
regarded as an unrecognized species.
Zhang and Dai collected two specimens of
Sinocyclocheilus in 1984 from Fuchuan, Guangxi,
near Guilin. Fuchuan and Guilin are located along
different rivers, the Hejiang and Guijiang rivers,
respectively, both of which belong to the Pearl River
drainage. Zhang and Dai (1992) compared the speci-
mens from Fuchuan with the unpublished descriptions
of S. guilinensis. They thought the main characters of
the specimens they collected were similar to the
description of S. guilinensis and described the speci-
mens from Fuchuan as a new species, Sinocyclocheilus
jii (Zhang and Dai 1992). The specific name “jii”was
proposed to recognize the contribution of the original
researcher, Ji. After that, both specimens from Guilin
and Fuchuan were recognized as S. jii by all other
researchers (Shan et al. 2000).
During a phylogenetic study on the genus, we
found that specimens from Guilin actually have some
stably-different characteristics compared with the type
specimens of Sinocyclocheilus jii. Therefore, we
described it herein as a new species. Out of respect
for Mr. Ji, who first reported the species, we keep his
original scientific name for the species, S. guilinensis.
Materials and methods
The holotype and paratypes and comparative specimens
are deposited in different collections. Their abbrevia-
tions are as listed in Leviton et al. (1985)withthe
following exceptions: IHB (Institute of Hydrobiology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences), GXIF (Fishery Insti-
tute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China),
and Lan (personal collection of Mr. J.H. Lan).
Measurements were taken using a digital caliper to
the nearest 0.1mm. Morphometric and meristic char-
acters were selected according to the methods de-
scribed in Zhao et al. (2006). Osteological characters
were observed using X-ray photographs following the
methods described in Zhao et al. (2002). Vertebrae
counts excluded the Weberian complex. Systat Version
10 (Wilkinson 2001) software was used in the
statistical analysis (principal component analysis).
Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1)
Sinocyclocheilus jii, Zhang and Dai 1992,Acta
Zootaxon Sin 17: 377 (Fuchuan, Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, China); Shan et al. 2000,Fauna
Sinica, Osteichthyes, Cypriniformes III: 59 (Guilin,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China).
Holotype ASIZB 113753, 107.3mm standard length
(SL), from Zhujiang River Basin: Lijiang River,
Feifengshan Hill, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Au-
tonomous Region, China; collected in 1982 by CS Ji
and J Zhou.
Paratypes ASIZB 113754, 101.2mm SL; GXIF 82389,
115.9mm SL; GXIF 82374, 110.7mm SL; GXIF 82375,
108.1mm SL; data as for holotype. IHB 82IV123,
136.5mm SL, collected in April, 1982 from Guilin,
collector unknown. KIZ 845005, 60.9mm SL, collected
in May, 1984 from Guilin, collector unknown.
Diagnosis The new species is distinguished from all
congeners by the following combination of character-
istics: body completely scaled, eyes well developed; last
unbranched ray of dorsal fin soft, without serration;
scale row counts above and below lateral line 19–20
and 11–12, respectively; circumpeduncular scale count
34–36; gill rakers 8–11; pre-dorsal vertebrae 8–9.
Fig. 1 Sinocyclocheilus
guilinensis sp. nov.
Holotype, ASIZB 113753,
107.3 mm SL, scale bar
10 mm
138 Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:137–142

Description General body features are shown in
Fig. 1. Meristics and proportional measurements as
percentages of standard length are listed in Table 1.
Body compressed. Dorsal profile convex, not forming
a humped back, greatest body depth exactly at dorsal
fin insertion; ventral profile slightly concave from
snout tip to pelvic insertion, then slightly convex to
anal-fin end and straight toward caudal fin.
Head compressed. Snout round. Nostrils midway
between snout tip and anterior margin of orbit. Anterior
Table 1 Meristics and morphmetrics of Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov. and S. jii
Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov Sinocyclocheilus jii
NMin Max Mean SD Holotype NMin Max Mean SD
Dorsal fin rays 7 7 7 7 7 5 7 7 7
Anal fin rays 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Pectoral fin rays 7 13 15 14 13 5 14 15 15
Pelvic fin rays 7 8 8 8 8 5 8 8 8
Total vertebrae 3 36 37 37 37 2 36 38 37
Predorsal vertebrae 3 8 9 8 8 2 8 9
Caudal vertebrae 3 17 18 18 18 2 17 17
Gill rakers 7 8 11 9 9 5 6 7 7
Lateral line scales 7 43 53 48 49 5 47 52 49
Scale rows above lateral line 7 19 20 20 19 5 27 29 28
Scale rows below lateral line 7 11 12 12 12 5 15 17 16
Circumpeduncular scales 7 34 36 36 34 5 46 50 47
Standard length 7 60.9 136.5 105.8 22.8 107.3 5 100.5 123.6 112.2 8.3
In % of standard length
Body depth 7 24.6 29.0 27.0 1.9 27.3 5 27.0 28.8 28.1 0.7
Predorsal length 7 56.1 58.0 56.8 0.6 56.1 5 54.5 57.1 55.6 1.2
Dorsal-fin base length 7 10.5 12.9 11.9 0.8 11.7 5 12.2 13.6 13.0 0.6
Dorsal fin length 7 20.8 22.4 21.6 0.7 21.0 5 19.8 23.9 22.2 1.6
Preanal length 7 74.6 79.1 76.7 1.7 76.8 5 74.1 76.7 74.8 1.1
Anal-fin base length 7 7.5 9.7 8.7 0.8 8.4 5 7.7 8.7 8.3 0.5
Anal fin length 7 16.6 19.8 18.0 1.1 16.8 5 17.4 19.5 18.7 1.0
Prepectoral length 7 25.7 30.0 27.9 1.5 27.7 5 25.7 27.5 26.6 0.6
Pectoral-fin base length 7 3.5 4.8 4.2 0.5 4.5 5 3.7 4.3 4.0 0.2
Pectoral fin length 7 19.0 24.9 21.5 1.8 20.6 5 20.3 23.9 21.7 1.7
Prepelvic length 7 49.8 55.1 52.2 1.7 52.1 5 50.7 55.5 52.8 2.0
Pelvic-fin base length 7 4.0 5.4 4.5 0.4 4.4 5 4.0 4.9 4.3 0.4
Pelvic fin length 7 15.4 20.7 18.1 1.7 18.1 5 16.1 18.5 17.5 1.0
Caudal peduncle length 7 16.4 19.2 18.0 0.9 17.3 5 17.9 19.6 18.9 0.7
Caudal peduncle depth 7 11.4 14.1 12.7 0.8 13.1 5 11.8 13.5 12.8 0.7
Head length 7 26.6 31.4 28.7 1.5 28.0 5 25.3 27.4 26.5 0.8
Head depth 7 15.3 17.9 16.8 1.0 17.1 5 14.4 16.0 15.2 0.7
Head width 7 12.4 15.1 14.1 1.0 14.3 5 13.3 14.2 13.7 0.4
Snout length 7 7.6 10.3 8.9 0.9 9.3 5 6.9 7.7 7.2 0.4
Eye diameter 7 7.1 9.1 8.1 0.7 8.1 5 7.2 8.6 7.8 0.5
Interorbital width 7 6.4 7.8 7.3 0.6 7.4 5 6.1 7.1 6.5 0.4
Prenostril length 7 5.1 6.7 5.8 0.5 5.7 5 5.3 5.8 5.5 0.2
Width between posterior nostrils 7 5.2 7.0 6.4 0.7 5.2 5 5.8 6.8 6.3 0.4
Upper jaw length 7 7.3 9.3 8.3 0.8 7.4 5 6.1 7.7 6.8 0.7
Lower jaw length 7 6.8 8.7 7.8 0.8 6.8 5 5.9 7.1 6.4 0.4
Mouth width 7 7.9 8.4 8.1 0.2 8.0 5 7.7 8.4 8.1 0.3
Maxilla barbel length 7 8.4 13.6 10.8 1.7 11.2 5 10.5 14.1 12.4 1.7
Rictal barbel length 7 9.3 15.5 12.4 2.1 12.8 5 10.3 17.8 13.3 3.0
Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:137–142 139

nostrils round, possessing a rim with a fleshy flap
forming a complete tube. Posterior nostrils elliptical and
opened. Mouth terminal and curved; lips simple, upper
lip base covered by rostral cap, lower lip closely adnate
to lower jaw, upper and lower jaws connected at rictus.
Two pairs of barbels: maxillary barbel inserted in front
of anterior nostril, barbels extending beyond anterior
margin of eye; rictal barbels a little longer, extending to
posterior margin of eye, but not reaching posterior
margin of preopercle. Eye round, normal, and moderate
in size, eye diameter one fourth to one third of head
length. Cranial sensory canal developed, superaorbital
and infraorbital canals connected, canals below eye
radially arranged. Gill opening large, operculum mem-
brane not connected at isthmus. Joints of dentary-
angulars not close to each other at isthmus. Gill rakers
triangular, well-developed, 8–9 in first gill arch,
epibranchial with 2 (five specimens) or 3 (2); cerato-
branchial with 6 (2), 7 (2) or 8 (2). Pharyngeal teeth in
three rows with counts of 2, 3, 4–4, 3, 2.
Pectoral fin insertion under posterior margin of
operculum; pectoral fin not reaching pelvic fin insertion.
Pelvic fin insertion anterior to dorsal fin insertion,
midway between pectoral and anal fin insertions; pelvic
fin stretching two-thirds of distance between pelvic and
anal fin insertions, not reaching anus. Dorsal fin origin
Fig. 2 Sampling sites of
Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis
sp. nov. (circle) and S. jii
(triangle)
Fig. 3 Principal component
analysis based on
morphometric characters of
Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis
sp. nov. and S. jii
140 Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:137–142

approximately midway between snout tip and caudal-fin
base, and posterior to pelvic fin insertion; last un-
branched ray of dorsal fin soft, without serrations along
posterior edge. Anal fin 17–20% of SL, with insertion
approximately midway between pelvic fin origin and
caudal fin base. Caudal fin bifurcate.
Lateral line complete, descending to point above
pectoral fin rays from posterior margin of operculum,
then ascending to body midline above anal fin base,
extending to end of caudal peduncle. Scales small.
Lateral line scales larger than other scales. Lateral line
scale counts 43–51, scale row counts above lateral
line 19–20, below lateral line 11–13; circumpedun-
cular scale counts 34–36. Predorsal scales irregularly
arranged and difficult to accurately count. Pelvic fin
axillary scales (generally 2) present.
Coloration in alcohol Specimens were fixed in 10%
formalin and then preserved in 75% alcohol. Body
yellow-brownish, dorsum darker and abdomen
lighter, no spots or blotches. All fins light yellowish.
Distribution Known only from subterranean rivers in
suburbs of Guilin City, tributaries of the Lijiang
River, which belongs to the Xijiang River drainage,
the largest tributary of the Zhujiang River basin
(Fig. 2). From an unpublished report
3
, this species
may be found in caves or subterranean rivers within
Table 2 Character loadings on principal components I–V for measurements from specimens of Sinocyclocheilus guilinensis sp. nov.
(seven specimens) and S. jii (five specimens)
PC I PC II PC III PC IV PC V
Standard length 0.1933 −0.0019 0.0245 −0.0131 0.0009
Body depth 0.2264 −0.0054 0.0351 −0.0257 0.0059
Predorsal length 0.1884 0.0050 0.0221 −0.0035 −0.0035
Distance from head end to dorsal fin insertion (dorsal view) 0.2118 0.0053 0.0225 0.0034 0.0048
Dorsal-fin base length 0.2195 −0.0513 0.0023 −0.0456 −0.0138
Dorsal fin length 0.1873 −0.0347 0.0284 −0.0038 0.0160
Preanal length 0.1851 0.0133 0.0272 −0.0026 −0.0002
Anal-fin base length 0.1766 −0.0021 −0.0058 0.0275 −0.0102
Anal fin length 0.1995 −0.0423 0.0216 0.0087 −0.0130
Prepectoral length 0.1773 0.0057 −0.0086 0.0053 −0.0133
Pectoral-fin base length 0.1648 −0.0119 −0.0183 0.0445 0.0096
Pectoral fin length 0.2220 −0.0405 0.0125 0.0333 0.0062
Prepelvic length 0.1804 0.0038 0.0181 −0.0178 −0.0170
Pelvic-fin base length 0.2035 −0.0168 −0.0320 0.0080 0.0394
Pelvic fin length 0.2078 −0.0372 0.0050 0.0299 0.0363
Caudal peduncle length 0.2171 −0.0200 0.0429 −0.0367 0.0133
Caudal peduncle depth 0.2146 −0.0316 0.0069 0.0053 0.0296
Head length 0.1688 0.0196 −0.0124 0.0083 −0.0118
Head depth 0.1832 0.0463 0.0008 0.0145 0.0164
Head width 0.1569 0.0202 0.0270 −0.0156 0.0056
Snout length 0.1865 0.1146 0.0052 0.0248 0.0120
Eye diameter 0.1497 −0.0000 −0.0019 −0.0326 0.0171
Interorbital width 0.2290 0.0602 −0.0115 0.0026 0.0267
Prenostril length 0.2206 0.0432 0.0207 0.0042 −0.0199
Width between posterior nostrils 0.2005 0.0197 −0.0019 −0.0107 −0.0564
Upper jaw length 0.1867 0.1008 −0.0525 0.0014 −0.0189
Lower jaw length 0.1923 0.0918 −0.0552 −0.0029 −0.0125
Mouth width 0.2033 0.0102 0.0231 −0.0239 −0.0096
Maxilla barbel length 0.2493 −0.1184 −0.0086 0.0483 −0.0455
Rictal barbel length 0.2190 −0.0798 −0.1335 −0.0376 0.0107
The three highest loadings on PC II are shown in boldface.
3
Fishery Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
1984. Report of the survey on inland fishery resources of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Environ Biol Fish (2009) 86:137–142 141

approximately 30km north-east, 20km south-east,
25km south and 15km north-west of Guilin City.
Etymology The name of the new species, guilinensis,
is derived from the name of the collection locality,
Guilin City.
Remarks Only a few species of Sinocyclocheilus,
including S. tianlinensis (Zhou et al. 2004), S.
macrolepis (Wang 1989), S. yishanensis (Li and Lan
1992), S. jii and this new species, have soft
unbranched dorsal fin rays without serrations. S.
tianlinensis is completely blind. S. macrolepis is
distinct in that the lateral line scales are not larger
than scales located just above or below the lateral
line. S. yishanensis has fewer pre-dorsal vertebrae
than S. jii and the new species (6–7 vs. 8–9).
Sinocyclocheilus jii is most similar in body shape
to the new species. This is why these two species
were mistaken with each other in the past. In fact, S.
jii has higher scale row counts above and below the
lateral line (27–29 vs. 19–20 and 15–18 vs. 11–12,
respectively) and circumpeduncular scale counts (46–
50 vs. 34–36) than the new species. S. jii also
possesses fewer of gill rakers than the new species
(6–7 vs. 8–11). In addition, a principal component
analysis (PCA) based on morphometric characteristics
shows marked differences between S. jii and S.
guilinensis sp. nov. (Fig. 3). The features with
the highest PCA loading scores (Table 2) were
snout length, upper jaw length, and maxillary barbel
length.
Comparative materials Sinocyclocheilus jii:ASIZB
62726 (Holotype), 123.6 mm SL, ASIZB 62727 (Para-
type), 100.5 mm SL, Fuchuan county, Guangxi, China,
1984, C. G. Zhang and D. Y. Dai; Lan 02081410,
114.4 mm SL, Lan 02081388, 112.7 mm SL, Lan
02081407, 109.9 mm SL, Guanyin Town, Gongcheng
County, Guangxi, China, October 2002, J. H. Lan.
Acknowledgments The work was supported by the projects of
National Natural Science Foundation of China (contract number
NSFC-30470251 and NSFC-J0030092). Many thanks go to Dr.
Junxing Yang (KIZ), Mrs. Guihua Cui (KIZ) andDr. Shunping He
(IHB) for allowing to access specimens. Thanks to Dr. Aldemaro
Romero (Arkansas State University, USA) for revising the paper.
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