16/01/2024
Four new species of snakehead are described from Myanmar - ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ถ. ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐, ๐ถ. ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, and ๐ถ. ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ . All are well known to fishkeepers who keep these beautiful species, being sought-after imports into the hobby.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ = ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐. "fire and ice" / "Tenasserim"
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ = ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐. "mimetic pulchra" / "Rakhine Yoma"
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ = ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐. "red fin" / "Mogaung"
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ = ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐. "ignis"
Open-access (direct PDF) -https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/RBZ-2024-0001.pdf
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ถ๐๐น๐ฒ
Four new species of ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ from Myanmar (Teleostei, Labyrinthici, Channidae)
๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Ralf Britz, Tan Heok Hui & Lukas Rรผber. Four new species of ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ from Myanmar (Teleostei, Labyrinthici, Channidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 72: 1โ25. https://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2024-0001
๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐
We describe four new species of ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ from Myanmar, all members of the Gachua group.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐, new species, is a species endemic to west-flowing streams on the western slope of the Rakhine Yoma in Rakhine State; ๐ถ. ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐, new species, occurs in mountain streams south of Mogaung, Kachin State; ๐ถ. ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, new species, co-occurs with ๐ถ. ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ in streams north of Putao, also Kachin State, at the foothills of the Himalayas; and ๐ถ. ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ , new species, is found in streams in Tanintharyi Region at the southernmost tip of Myanmar, bordering Thailand.
All four species are readily diagnosed by their colour pattern from other Gachua group taxa. They show genetic distances of 3.5โ19.9% in the COI barcoding gene to other Myanmar members of the Gachua group.
๐๐๐๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ - The species name is derived from the Greek words ฯแฟฆฯ (๐๐ฆ๐), fire, and แฝฯฮธฮฑฮปฮผฯฯ (๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ ), eye. It was inspired by the bright orange area under the eye, a colour reminiscent of that of glowing embers. Used as a noun in apposition.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ - The species name is derived from the name of the area where it occurs, the Rakhine Yoma in western Myanmar, an adjective.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ - The species name, ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐, a noun in apposition, is derived from the Latin nouns โ๐๐ข๐๐๐โ for redness, and โ๐๐๐โ for rim. The name was inspired by the orange-red rim of the dorsal and caudal fins.
๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ - The species name is derived from the Latin adjective โ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ โ, -a , -um, red, alluding to the reddish markings on the head and sides of the body.
๐ฃ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐
First (top) - ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐โ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐ colouration in life, ZRC 64934, 121.3 mm SL; Myanmar, Tanintharyi Region, Lon Phaw, tributary
of Kra Buri.
Second - ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ BMNH 2019.10.16.269โ275 (bottom), not measured, ca. 110 mm SL.
Third - ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ 95.5 mm SL; BMNH 2019.10.16.195โ206 (bottom), not measured, ca. 90 mm SL.
Fourth - ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ colouration in life, ZRC 64932, 120.5 mm SL; Myanmar, Kachin State, unnamed stream near Putao.
Copyright ยฉ 2024 the Author(s). Published in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology journal. This paper is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
