Acrossocheilus beijiangensis WU & LIN, 1977

SynonymsTop ↑

Acrossocheilus wenchowensis beijiangensis Wu & Lin, 1977

Etymology

Acrossocheilus: from the Greek a- (Gr. ἀ-), meaning ‘without’, krossós (Gr. κροσσός), meaning ‘fringe, tassel’, and cheílos (Gr. χείλος), meaning ‘lip’, in reference to the smooth upper lip in members of this genus.

beijiangensis: named for the Bei Jiang (Bei River), type locality of the species.

Classification

Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae

Distribution

Recorded from Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces in southwestern China, plus the islands of Hainan and Hong Kong.

Type locality is ‘Lian-Xian and Yang-Shan, Guangdong, China’, corresponding to the Bei River drainage.

Maximum Standard Length

The largest officially-recorded specimen measured 131 mm.

Diet

Wild fish are known to feed on small, benthic invertebrates and graze biofilm from rocks and other solid surfaces.

NotesTop ↑

The genus Acrossocheilus is restricted to southern China, northern Vietnam and northern Laos. It can be distinguished from related genera by the following combination of characters: rostral fold present; lips fleshy and continuous around corners of mouth; lower lip with a median interruption; mouth inferior; horny sheath on lower jaw; two pairs of barbels; last simple ray of dorsal fin osseous with a serrated or smooth posterior margin.

Members of the genus are characterised by possessing a particular number of dark vertical bar on each flank, and A. beijiangensis is one of only two species, the other being A. clivosius, to always possess 5 such bars.

References

1. Wu, H-W. and R-D. Lin in: Wu, H.-W., R.-D. Lin, Q.-X. Chen, X.-L. Chen and M.-Q. He, 1977 - People's Press, Shanghai: i-ii + 229-598
   Zhongguo like yulei zhi. [The cyprinid fishes of China] Volume 2.
2. Lan, Z.-J., B.-P. Chan and J. Zhao, 2014 - Zoological Systematics 39(3): 433-441
   Acrossocheilus multistriatus, a new species of barbine fish (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Zhujiang River basin, south China.
3. Yuan, L.-Y., Z.-Q. Wu and E. Zhang, 2006 - Journal of Fish Biology 68 (Supplement B): 163-173
   Acrossocheilus spinifer, a new species of barred cyprinid from south China (Pisces: Teleostei).