Descriptions of Two New Species of the Cyprinid Genus Hongshuia (Pisces: Cypriniformes) from the Pearl River Basin, Southwest China, with a Re-evaluation of the Taxonomic Status of H. paoli.

Abstract

Two new species of the labeonin cyprinid genus Hongshuia, H. boulobos and H. wangi, are here described from tributaries of the Pearl River Basin, Southwest China. Both share with H. brevibarba the presence of a lower lip with a sector-shaped median lobe (the maximum width positioned at anterior potion of median lobe), distinguishing them from H. microstomata and H. megalophthalmus, which have a roughly rounded median lobe. Hongshuia wangi is distinct from H. brevibarba and H. boulobos in having wider median lobe of lower lip (width 47.8-57.6% of head width vs. 40.5-43.4% in H. brevibarba and 38.5-44.0% in H. boulobos). Hongshuia boulobos further differs from all other congeners in having a lower lip with larger lateral lobes (width more vs. less than one-third of the median lobe width). The study also considers H. paoli as a junior synonym of H. megalophthalmus based on morphological and molecular evidence.