A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS VANMANENIA FROM GUANGXI, CHINA (CYPRINIFORMES:HOMALOPTERIDAE)

The present paper reports a new species of Homalopterid fish collected from Guangxi, China. Vanmanenia homalocephala Zhang et Zhao,sp. nov. (Figs. 1,2) Holotype.No. 70180, total length 59.2?mm, standard length 46.3?mm collected from a rivulet of Luoqing Jiang basin, a tributary belonging to Liu Jiang basin of Pearl River system on 13.Ⅴ. 1999. The rivulet is in Baishou Town, Yongfu County, Guangxi, China (26°35′N, 118°15′E). Paratype.No. 70181, total length 55.3?mm, standard length 42.4?mm collected with the holotype. D.iii 8; A.ii 5; P.i 14; V.i 8. Scales in L. l.95 100. Vertebrae 4+35. Depth of body in standard length 5.3 5.6(5.5),width of body 5.4 6.4(5.5), length of head 4.2,length of caudal peduncle 7.1 8.6(8.3),depth of caudal peduncle 10.5 11.8(11.2). Depth of head in head length 2.1 2.2,width of head 1.3,length of snout 1.8,diameter of eye 5.1 5.2(5.2),width of interorbital space 2.5 2.8(2.7). Depth of caudal peduncle in length of caudal peduncle 1.2 1.7(1.5). Width of mouth in width of head 3.1 3.2(3.2). Body elongate, head and front trunk compressd and abdomen flat in front of anal fin. Caudal trunk somewhat depressed. Caudal peduncle short. Snout obtuse, its length longer than length of head behind eyes. Mouth small, inferior and horseshoe. Lip thick, with rostral fold and groove in front of mouth. Rostral groove divided constrainedly into 3 or even 4 lobes, the lobes and sub barbels short and not easy to be distinguishable from each other. Two pairs of short barbels at the corner of mouth. Front and rear nasal pores bordered each other, nasal valves triangle and developed. Eyes small, supralateral. Gill slit extending to the venter of head. Scales minute, naked on back of head and in front of base of ventral fins. Lateral line complete. Dorsal fin short, its origin a little bit before or just in middle from base of caudal fin. Anal fin shorter than dorsal fin. Pectoral and ventral fins expanded horizontally. Pectoral fin originating behind down corner of gill slit, not reaching ventral fin. Origin of ventral fin opposite to second or third branched dorsal ray, ventral fin reaching over anus but not reaching anal fin. Anus nearer origin of anal fin than insertion of ventral fin. Caudal fin forked, lower lobes slightly longer. Color of fresh specimens in formalin light brown with 5 6 dark saddle backed stripes on back. Light yellow on venter, with 1 2 horizontal stripes along lowerlateral of body. The new species differs from all other known species in the genus Vanmanenia but similar to Crossostoma in their rostral fold and barbels among lobes. On the other hand, the new species has the same 4 papilla on lower lip and the same distribution area as Vanmanenia . The distribution area is only known in a small tributary of Luoqing Jiang basin, a tributary of Liujiang River basin, a large tributary of Pearl River system, in Baishou, Yongfu County, Guangxi, China.