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| Glyptothorax pulcher Zeng, Lin, Jiang & Chen, in Zeng, Lin, Yang, Pu, Jiang et Chen, 2026. |
Abstract
A new species of the genus Glyptothorax, Glyptothorax pulcher sp. nov. is described from the Tuoniang River, the Pearl River Basin, in south-eastern Yunnan Province and western Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. This new species most closely resembles G. quadriocellatus in overall morphology, including similar outline appearance, skin tubercles and colour pattern. It can be distinguished from its congeners that are found in east of the Red River in China by the following combination of characteristics: distinctive colour pattern, skin with sparse soft tubercules, dorsal surface of head smooth, thoracic adhesive apparatus (TAA) broad (length of 1–1.2 times its width, width of TAA 12.0–14.3% SL), adipose-fin base short (11.7–15.4% SL), caudal peduncle deep and short (13.7–17.5% SL in length, 10.3–12.3% SL in depth). Its validity is further confirmed by molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on mitochondrial COI and Cyt b gene sequences, indicating it forms a sister group with G. pallozonum. The estimated K2P genetic distances between the new species and G. pallozonum range from 5.7% to 6.0%. In addition, phylogenetic evidence also suggests that G. zhujiangensis not be a valid species, but rather a junior synonym of G. pallozonum in this study.
Key Words: COI, Cyt b, morphological differentiation, phylogeny, Tuoniang River
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| Living view of Glyptothorax pulcher sp. nov., holotype. KIZ2025000024, 83.5 mm SL. |
Glyptothorax pulcher Zeng, Lin, Jiang & Chen, sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Glyptothorax pulcher can be distinguished from its congeners distributed in the adjacent water systems of the Pearl River by the following combination of characteristics: distinctive colour pattern, skin with sparse tubercules, soft and similar in texture to skin, dorsal surface of head smooth, TAA broad (length of 1–1.2 times its width, width of TAA12.0–14.3% SL), adipose-fin base short (11.7–15.4% SL), caudal peduncle deep and short (13.7–17.5% SL in length, 10.3–12.3% SL in depth).
Etymology. The epithet name “pulcher” consists of the Latin “pulcher”, meaning beautiful, referring to the species’ attractive colour pattern. Suggested common name in Chinese is 美丽纹胸鮡 (Chinese Pinyin: mei li wen xiong zhao).
Yu-Yang Zeng, Feng Lin, Hong-Fu Yang, Xin-Rui Pu, Wan-Sheng Jiang, Xiao-Yong Chen. 2026. Glyptothorax pulcher (Siluriformes, Sisoridae), A New Species from the upper Pearl River of Yunnan and Guangxi, southwest China. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 102(1): 17-26. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zse.102.167142
