Schistura albirostris, a new nemacheiline loach (Teleostei: Balitoridae) from the Irrawaddy River drainage of Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

Schistura albirostris, a new species of nemacheiline loach, is described from the Longchuanjiang, a tributary of the Irrawaddy River of Tengchong County, southwestern Yunnan, China. It differs from all congeners in the combination of an extremely slender body; a distinctive rectangular unpigmented area on the snout, ethmoid region and anterior rostral barbels; 5-7 dark dorsal saddles that are confluent with 5-8 lateral bars; lacking a suborbital flap in males; and possessing an incomplete lateral line with 27-51 pores, and a weakly-developed processus dentiformis. Copyright © 2001-2012 Magnolia Press.