Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Triplophysa shannanensis, a New Species of Tibetan Stone Loach (Nemacheilidae) from the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River, Tibet

  • Published:
Journal of Ichthyology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A new species, Triplophysa shannanensis sp. nov., is described from the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River based on morphological and genetic analyses. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: posterior chamber of swim bladder developed, ovoid, directly connects to the anterior chamber; intestine short, zigzag-shaped and with two loops; lower jaw spoon-like, blunt, and covered by lips; snout length shorter than postorbital length; dorsal fin origin anterior to the ventral fin origin, and it closer to caudal fin base than tip of snout; the pelvic origin is just below vertical from the second branched dorsal fin ray, and tips of ventral fin reaching to anus or close to anal fin origin; vertebrae 4 + 36–38; gill rakers 10–11. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that the new species is situated in the most basal of the genus Triplophysa species distributed in the Himalayan region of China. The Kimura’s 2-parameter interspecific genetic distance of the cytochrome b gene sequences of the new species differed from 5.6 to 20.3% with other Triplophysa species. Two non-native species, T. dalaica and T. scleroptera, were first found in the the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which would bring the number of Triplophysa in the Tibetan Himalaya of China to eleven species. A checklist of genus Triplophysa in Chinese Himalaya was further provided.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Bashir, A., Bisht, B.S., Mir, J.I., et al., Morphological, molecular characterization and taxonomic status of Triplophysa marmorata and Triplophysa kashmirensis (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) from Kashmir valley, India, Rev. Biol. Trop., 2016, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 473–482. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v64i2.19591

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Chen, H., Zhang, H., Chen, Y., and Freyhof, J., A review of the Barbatula loaches (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from north-eastern China, with the description of four new species, Zootaxa, 2019, vol. 4565, no. 1, pp. 1–36. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4565.1.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dempster, A., Laird, D.B., and Rubin, D.B., Maximum likelihood from incomplete data via the EM algorithm, J. R. Stat. Soc.: Ser. B. Methodological, 1977, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1977.tb01600.x

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Feng, C., Tang, Y., Liu, S., et al., Multiple convergent events created a nominal widespread species: Triplophysa stoliczkae (Steindachner, 1866) (Cobitoidea: Nemacheilidae), BMC Evol. Biol., 2019, vol. 19, no. 117, pp. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-019-1503-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W.N., and Van der Laan, R., Eds., Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References, Version 09/2023. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/ research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp.

  6. Guindon, S., Dufayard, J.F., Lefort, V., et al., New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0, Syst. Biol., 2010, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syq010

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. He, D.K., Chen, Y.F., and Chen, Y.X., Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Triplophysa (Osteichthyes: Nemacheilinae) in the Tibetan Plateau inferred from cytochrome b DNA sequences, Proc. Natl. Sci., 2006, vol. 16, no. 11, pp. 1395–1404.

    Google Scholar 

  8. He, D., Sui, X., Sun, H., et al., Diversity, pattern and ecological drivers of freshwater fish in China and adjacent areas, Rev. Fish. Biol. Fish, 2020, vol. 30, no. 345, pp. 387–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-020-09600-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. He, Y. and He, D.K., X-ray microtomography study of cranium, pectoral fin and girdle, and weberian apparatus development in juvenile Triplophysa stewarti (Nemacheilidae), J. Ichthyol., 2023, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945223020078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Hebert, P.D.N., Ratnasingham, S., and de Waard, J.R., Barcoding animal life: Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species, Proc. Biol. Sci., 2003, vol. 270, no. 1524, pp. S96–S99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3592272.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Hou, F., Zhang, X., Zhang, X., et al., High intra-population genetic variability and inter-population differentiation in a plateau specialized fish, Triplophysa orientalis, Environ. Biol. Fish., 2012, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 519–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9947-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hu, J., Liu, D., and He, D., Phylogeography of Triplophysa stenura (Nemacheilidae): Responded to the Mid-Pleistocene climate transition in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Zool. Stud., 2020, vol. 59, no. 67, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2020.59-67

  13. Hu, J., Zhao, J., Sui, X., et al., Across the highest mountain on Earth: Discordant phylogeographic patterns and recent dispersal of Tibetan stone loaches (Triplophysa) in the Himalayas, J. Fish. Biol., 2023, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15296

  14. Huelsenbeck, J.P., and Ronquist, F., MRBAYES: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees, Bioinformatics, 2001, vol. 17, no. 8, pp. 754–755. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/17.8.754

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Li, J., Wang, Y., Jin, H., et al., Identification of Triplophysa species from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and its adjacent regions through DNA barcodes, Gene, 2017, vol. 605, pp. 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2016.11.045

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, F., Li, M., Wang, J., et al., Species composition and longitudinal patterns of fish assemblages in the middle and lower Yarlung Zangbo River, Tibetan Plateau, China, Ecol. Indicators, 2021, vol. 125, no. 107542, pp. 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Men, Q.W., Su, J.X. and Li, W.D., Comparative Anatomy of Fish, Beijing: Sci. Publ. House, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Prokofiev, A.M., Four new species of Triplophysa stoliczkai-complex from China (Pisces: Cypriniformes: Balitoridse), Zoosyst. Rossica, 2001, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 193–207.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Prokofiev, A.M., Redescription of Triplophysa alticeps (Herzenstein, 1888), the type species of the subgenus Qinghaichthys Zhu, 1981, with notes on its taxonomic position, J. Ichthyol., 2006, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 570–581. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945206080042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Prokofiev, A.M., Materials towards the revision of the genus Triplophysa rendahl, 1933 (Cobitoidea: Balitoridae: Nemacheilinae): A revision of nominal taxa of Herzenstein (1888) described within the species “Nemachilus” stoliczkae and “N.” dorsonotatus, with the description of the new species T. scapanognatha sp. nova, Ibid., 2007, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945207010018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Prokofiev, A.M., Morphological classification of loaches (Nemacheilinae), Ibid., 2010, vol. 50, no. 10, pp. 827–913. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945210100012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Prokofiev, A. M., Morphological characteristics and intraspecific structure of Triplophysa orientalis (Balitoridae: Nemacheilinae), Ibid., 2016, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945216020132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Rambaut, A., FigTree 1.4.3, Version 12/2022. http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree/, 2016.

  24. Ren, Q., Yang, J.X., and Chen, X.Y., Phylogeographical and morphological analyses of Triplophysa stenura (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae) from the Three Parallel Rivers Region, China, Zool. Stud., 2018, vol. 57, no. 26, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2018.57-26

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Sawada, Y., Phylogeny and zoogeography of the superfamily Cobitoidea (Cyprinoidei, Cypriniformes), Mem. Fac. Fish. Hokkaido Univ., 1982, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 65–223.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sheraliev, B. and Peng, Z.G., Triplophysa ferganaensis, a new loach species from Fergana Valley in Central Asia (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), J. Fish. Biol., 2021, vol. 99, no. 3, pp. 807–817. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14764

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Tamura, K., Peterson, D., Peterson, N., et al., MEGA5: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods, Mol. Biol. Evol., 2011, vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 2731–2739. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr121

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Tao, J., Ding, C., Chen, J., et al., Boosting freshwater fish conservation with high-resolution distribution mapping across a large territory, Conserv. Biol., 2023, vol. 37, no. 3, Article e014036. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wang, T., Zhang, Y.P., Yang, Z.Y., et al., DNA barcoding reveals cryptic diversity in the underestimated genus Triplophysa (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae, Nemacheilinae) from the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, BMC Evol. Biol., 2020, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1–151. .https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-01718-0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Wu, Y.F. and Wu, C.Z., Fish of the Tibetan Plateau, Chengdu: Sichuan Sci. and Technol. Publ. House, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Yerim, L., Wonhoon, L., Mariusz, K., et al., Maximum intraspecific distances (%) based on Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) for 100 morphospecies, PLoS One, 2017, vol. 12, no. 4, Article e0176582. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176582.g001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhang, D., Gao, F., Jakovli, I., et al., PhyloSuite: An integrated and scalable desktop platform for streamlined molecular sequence data management and evolutionary phylogenetics studies, Mol. Ecol. Resour., 2020, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 348–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13096

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Zhu, S.Q., The Loaches of the Subfamily Nemacheilinae in China (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae), Nanjing: Jiangsu Sci. and Technol. Publ. House, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Zhu, S.Q., and Wu, Y.F., The Fish Fauna of Qinghai Lake Region and Biology of Gymnocypris przewalskii (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae), Beijing: Sci. and Technol. Publ. House, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Ren Zhu, Xixi Li and Jianshuo Qian from Institute of Hydrobiology, CAS and Meng Wang from Hebei University for help in collection of specimens (Kessler).

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition Program (Grant no. 2019QZKK05010102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 32070436), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei University (Grant no. 799207222026), and The Capacity-Building Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for the Strategic Biological Resources Program (KFJ-BRP-017-085).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Life Science and Green Development, Hebei University, Baoding, China

    M. Wang & Y. Chen

  2. Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China

    J. Huang & D. He

Authors
  1. M. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Y. Chen or D. He.

Ethics declarations

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors of this work declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

Animal protocols were approved by the Administration Committee of Experimental Animals of Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Approval ID: IHB/LL/2017027 of April 1, 2017).

Additional information

Publisher’s Note.

Pleiades Publishing remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, M., Huang, J., Chen, Y. et al. Triplophysa shannanensis, a New Species of Tibetan Stone Loach (Nemacheilidae) from the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River, Tibet. J. Ichthyol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945224020164

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945224020164

Keywords:

Search

Navigation