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| Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus Xia, Wu & Li, 2018
in Xia, Wu, Li, Wu & Liu, 2018.
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Abstract
The genus Rhinogobius Gill 1859 is widely distributed in fresh waters along the Western Pacific coast of tropical and temperate Asia. A new species, Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus, is described from Anhui Province in Eastern China. This species can be differentiated from all congeners by a combination of the following characters: up to 6 longitudinal brown to black stripes along the side of the body; pectoral-fin rays modally 14; predorsal scale series 5–9; lateral scale series 28–30; transverse scale series 6–7; branchiostegal membrane with about 20 red round spots in males; and 2 black oblique stripes parallel along the upper jaw on the anterior portion of the cheek. Analyzing sequences of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I revealed that the new species is closely related to, but distinct, from Rhinogobius wuyanlingensis.
Keywords: Pisces, freshwater goby, Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus, Eastern China, COI gene
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| FIGURE 2. Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus [upper] Male adult at type locality; [lower] Female adult at type locality. |
Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus Xia, Wu, and Li, sp. n.
Diagnosis. Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus is distinguishable from the other species in the same genus by the unique combination of the following features: D2 rays modally I/8 (rarely I/9); A rays modally I/7; P rays 13–15; LL 28–30; TR 6–7; predorsal scales 5–9; vertebral count 10+17=27; lateral side with 5–6 longitudinal serrated stripes, ventral ones dark; a whitish band across from snout to dorsal portion of operculum, interrupted by orbit; a black stripe along lower half of upper jaw, followed by a longer parallel stripe across anterior portion of cheek; rear edge of orbit with a black blotch; cheek and operculum spotless, branchiostegal membrane grayish with up to 20 red spots in male; D1 with 3–4 horizontal rows of spots and D2 with 5–6 rows; P base with an arched reddish brown band, membrane with several vertical rows of spots and a bold mark near the origin; and C base with a large dark spot, with vertical rows of spots in membrane and the anterior row enlarged.
Distribution. Currently Rhinogobius maxillivirgatus is only known from a particular tributary of the Changjiang Basin in Qimen County, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, China.
Etymology. The name maxillivirgatus is a noun in apposition and derived from the Latin maxilla meaning “upper jaw” and virgas meaning “stripes,” referring to 2 distinctive stripes behind the upper jaw of both sexes.
Jian-Hong Xia, Han-Lin Wu, Chen-Hong Li, Yuan-Qi Wu and Su-Han Liu. 2018. A New Species of Rhinogobius (Pisces: Gobiidae), with Analyses of its DNA Barcode. Zootaxa. 4407(4); 553–562. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4407.4.7
