Hemimyzon indicus, a new species of balitorid fish from the Kaladan basin, Mizoram, northeast India (Teleostei: Balitoridae)

Abstract

Fishes of the genus Hemimyzon Regan, 1911, family Balitoridae, are found in the fast-flowing rivers of Southeast and East Asia, particularly in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The genus is very similar to the genus Balitora and can be separated mainly by having 3-7 simple pelvic rays and a more or less widened body, with pelvic-fin bases from widely separated to fused posteriorly (Kottelat, 2012). There are 16 valid species in the genus viz. H. confluens Kottelat, 2000, H. ecdyonuroides Freyhof & Herder, 2002, H. elongatus (Chen & Li, in Li & Chen, 1985), H. formosanus (Boulenger, 1894), H. khonensis Kottelat, 2000, H. macropterus Zheng, in Zheng & Huang, 1982, H. megalopseos Li & Chen, 1985, H. nanensis Doi & Kottelat, 1998, H. nujiangensis (Zhang & Zheng, in Zheng & Zhang, 1983), H. papilio Kottelat, 2000, H. pengi (Huang, in Zheng, Chen & Huang, 1982), H. pumilicorpora Zheng & Zhang, 1987, H. sheni Chen & Fang, 2009, H. taitungensis Tzeng & Shen, 1982, H. tchangi (Zheng, in Zheng, Chen & Huang, 1982) and H. yaotanensis (Fang, 1931) (see Kottelat, 2012). A survey conducted along the Kaladan River in Mizoram, northeastern India, resulted in the collection of a Hemimyzon species that markedly differs from all other congeners. It is described here as H. indicus.