Black-spotted longnose gudgeon (Microphysogobio punctatus) as new species and M. elongatus as synonym of M. tungtingensis

NEWS - Researchers have established the black-spotted longnose gudgeon (Microphysogobio punctatus) as a new species and redescribed M. elongatus (Yao & Yang, 1977) as a junior synonym of M. tungtingensis (Nichols, 1926) based on morphological analysis and molecular evidence supported by mitochondrial gene sequences.

M. tungtingensis has been considered valid since its description, but its morphology is still vague especially when compared to another similar species, M. elongatus. In this study, researchers examined both species and compared several lots of specimens from a wide geographical range.

There was no significant morphological difference between the two. Molecular evidence supported by mitochondrial gene sequences also showed low genetic distance and suggested that M. elongatus is a junior synonym of M. tungtingensis. At the same time, M. punctatus was found to have a similar distribution to both.

M. punctatus is distributed in the Guijiang and Liujiang rivers, two northern tributaries of the Xijiang River system, which belong to the Pearl River basin. The specimen was also found in the upper Xiangjiang River flowing into the middle Yangtze River basin.

The new species inhabits slow-flowing river water with a width of 30-40 meters and usually in sandy areas with gravel and rocks. They coexist with Opsariichthys bidens, Acheilognathus tonkinensis, Squalidus argentatus, Sarcocheilichthys sp. Microphysogobio zhangi and Cobitis spp.

The name punctatus is derived from the Latin punctum, meaning spot. The name refers to the many black spots on the scales and fins. The suggested Chinese name for the species is “斑点小鳔鮈”.

A total of 37 haplotypes from 43 Microphysogobio individuals for the Cyt b gene were included in the molecular phylogenetic study and the new species is sister to M. bicolor (Nichols, 1930) which together is sister to the clade M. luhensis (Huang, Chen, Zhao & Shao 2018), M. kachekensis (Oshima, 1926) and M. yunnanensis (Yao & Yang, 1977).

Original research

Sun Z-X, Tang W-Q, Zhao Y-H (2024) Redescription of Microphysogobio tungtingensis (Nichols, 1926) with the description of a new species of the genus (Cypriniformes, Gobionidae) from southern China. ZooKeys 1214: 161-186, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1214.127061

Dlium theDlium

Black jumping spider (Hyllus diardi)

Black jumping spider ( Hyllus diardi ) is an animal species in the Salticidae, black and white spiders, long hair, round head, elongated belly, relatively small, arboreal, perched on leaves in bushes and low trees in forests and agricultural lands. H. diardi has black and white color, shiny surface and white hair all over the body. The head is round, shiny black with a linear white line in the middle. Black eyes on the front of the head. The stomach has an elongated, jointed, black cylindrical shape with black plots at the top of each segment. The legs are long, segmented, shiny black or brownish in color and hairy. Black jumping spiders live arboreal, perch on leaf surfaces, low bushes, trees in forests, agricultural land, roadsides and shade. Very sensitive to human presence and will hide behind leaves to avoid sight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Suborder: Araneomorphae Infraorder: Entelegynae Superfamily: Salticoi...

Hairy senna (Senna hirsuta)

Hairy senna ( Senna hirsuta ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is an upright shrub, growing up to 2.5 meters tall. The leaves are compound on petioles up to 13 cm long. They usually have 2-6 pairs of leaflets, are egg-shaped, and have white hairs, up to 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. The flowers are yellow and arranged at the tips of branches and in the upper leaf axils in clusters of 2-5. The petals are 12-16 mm long, have 6 stamens, 3-8 mm long anthers, and 4 staminodes. Flowering occurs almost monthly. The pods are cylindrical, up to 15 cm long, 4-6 mm wide, and curved. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae Tribe: Cassieae Subtribe: Cassiinae Genus: Senna Mill. in Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4.: [s.p.] (1754) Species: Senna hirsuta (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby in Phytologia 44: 499 (1979) Variety: Senna hirsuta var. acuminata (Benth.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, Senna ...

Cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus)

Remujung atau kumis kucing atau cat's whiskers ( Orthosiphon aristatus ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae, an erect herb, the lower part is rooted at the joints, 2 meters high, the stem has four corners and is somewhat grooved with short hair or bald, has joints where branches grow to the left and right and is dark purple. O. aristatus has round or oval, lanceolate, round-ovate or rhombic leaves starting from the base, 1-10 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, 4-29 cm long stalks and a main vein in the middle, leaf stalk length 7-29 cm. Glandular flower petals, veins and bases are short and sparsely hairy, while the uppermost part is bald. The terminal crown is a bunch that comes out of the end of the branch with a length of 7-29 cm. Length 13-27mm, covered with short purple hairs on the top and then turning white, tube length 10-18 mm, lip length 4.5-10mm, blunt flower strands, round. Stamens are longer than flower tubes and exceed the upper lip of the flower. Dark brown fruit, 1.75-...

Dlium