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

Señorita banana (Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita')

Cavendish banana (Musa acuminata) Red banana (Musa acuminata AAA Group 'Red Dacca' Saba banana (Musa acuminata ABB Group 'Saba') Pisang mas or señorita banana ( Musa acuminata AA Group 'Señorita') is a cultivar in Musaceae, a banana with a cylindrical shape and bright yellow skin when ripe, one of the banana cultivars with the shortest fruit and has small seeds or no seeds. M. acuminata (AA Group) 'Señorita' emerged from a completely buried tuber. Stem formed as a pseudostem with heaps of leaf sheaths and succulent, soft, up to 2.5 m high, 42 cm girth at 1 m high. The pseudo stem is green and shiny with a pink-purple base color. The leaf blade is elongated, waxy with a stalk that is sometimes bordered from pink-purple to red, 120 cm long, 45 cm wide and impermeable. The inflorescences hang vertically with red-purple bracts which are yellow or green on the inner surface. Yellow male flowers. The plants start to flower about 231 days after planting....

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Dlium