Abstract
Nemacheilid loaches are a common element of fish assemblages of Southeast Asian streams. In particular, streams in tropical and subtropical regions with a gravelly to rocky substrate and a swift current are typically inhabited by several species of nemacheilid loaches. Up to six different species are reported to occur syntopically (Kottelat 1990). The vast majority of these loaches are allocated within the diverse genus Schistura, which accommodates about 200 valid species (Kottelat 2012). River loaches of the genus Schistura are defined as having the mouth moderately arched; the lower lip medially notched, not forming lateral labial pads; air bladder without a secondary chamber, and a maximum size between 25 mm and 120 mm SL (Kottelat 1990).
References
Chen, X.Y., Pan, X.F. & Yang, J.X. (2010) Fishes. In: Wang, J., Du, F. & Yang, Y.M. (Eds.), Survey and Research on the Upper Mekong River Provincial Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China. Science Press, Beijing, pp. 373–407. [in Chinese]
Chen, Z.M., Yang, J.X. & Qi, W.L. (2005) Description of a new loach of Schistura from Lancang River basin, Yunnan, China. Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica, 29, 146–149. [in Chinese]
Endruweit, M. (2011) Schistura porthos Kottelat, 2000, a new record of nemacheilid loach for China. Zoological Research, 32, 572–574.
Endruweit, M. (2014a) Schistura sexnubes, a new diminutive river loach from the upper Mekong basin, Yunnan Province, China (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae). Zoological Research, 35, 59–66.
Endruweit, M. (2014b) Four new records of fish species (Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae, Balitoridae; Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) and corrections of two misidentifications of fish species (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae; Beloniformes: Belonidae) in Yunnan, China. Zoological Research, 35, 51–58.
Kottelat, M. (1990) Indochinese nemacheilines. A revision of nemacheiline loaches (Pisces: Cypriniformes) of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and southern Viet Nam. Pfeil, München, 262 pp.
Kottelat, M. (2000) Diagnoses of a new genus and 64 new species of fishes from Laos (Teleostei: Cyprinidae, Balitoridae, Bagridae, Syngnathidae, Chaudhuriidae and Tetraodontidae). Journal of South Asian Natural History, 5, 37–82.
Kottelat, M. (2001) Fishes of Laos. WHT Publications, Colombo, 198 pp.
Kottelat, M. (2012) Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement, 26, 1–199.
Roberts, T.R. (1989) The freshwater fishes of Western Borneo (Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia). Memoirs of the California Academy of Science, 14, 1–210.
Zhou, W. & Cui, G.H. (1993) Status of the scaleless species of Schistura in China, with description of a new species (Teleostei: Balitoridae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 4, 81–92.
Zhu, S.Q. (1982) Five new species of fishes of the genus Nemachilus from Yunnan Province, China. Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 7, 104–111. [in Chinese]
Zhu, S.Q. (1989) The loaches of the subfamily Nemacheilinae in China. Jiangsu Science and Technology Publishing House, Nanjing, 150 pp. [in Chinese]
Zhu, S.Q. & Wang, S.H. (1985) The noemacheiline fishes from Yunnan Province, China (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae). Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica, 10, 208–220. [in Chinese]