Monday, March 17, 2014

[Ichthyology • 2014] ปลาอีดน้ำลึก | Lepidocephalus nanensis | Thai Spirit Loach • A Revision of the Spirit Loaches, genus Lepidocephalus (Cypriniformes, Cobitidae)


ปลาอีดน้ำลึก | Thai Spirit Loach
Lepidocephalus nanensis Deein, Tangjitjaroen & Page 2014  

Abstract
Lepidocephalus has been assumed to include only two species and confined to peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia. However, based on records and collections reported herein, the genus contains five species and is most common in the Chao Phraya basin of Thailand. Large rivers seem to be the preferred habitat, and difficulty in collecting these rivers may account for the paucity of specimens in collections. The known range of these five species includes western and southern Borneo, Java, Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia, and central Thailand.
Keywords: Teleostei, Southeast Asia, Lepidocephalichthys, Lepidocephalus nanensis

ปลาอีดน้ำลึก Lepidocephalus nanensis
photo: N. Panitvong | siamensis.org

Lepidocephalus nanensis Deein, Tangjitjaroen & Page 2014 
Thai Spirit Loach

Etymology. The name nanensis, an adjective, refers to the river system where most specimens have been collected. 
Distribution. Lepidocephalus nanensis is found in Thailand in the Nan River and in the Chao-Phraya River below the confluence of the Nan and Yom rivers (Fig. 2). To our knowledge, Šlechtová et al. (2008) first recorded this species from Thailand (as L. macrochir) and included molecular data from specimens collected at a fishpond at Nakom Savan (Nakon Sawan, Nakon Sawan Province), Thailand. Recent collections suggest that this species is common in the Nan and lower Chao Phraya rivers. These large rivers seem to be the preferred habitat of the species.


  



Deein, Gridsada, Weerapongse Tangjitjaroen & Lawrence M. Page. 2014. A Revision of the Spirit Loaches, genus Lepidocephalus (Cypriniformes, Cobitidae). Zootaxa. 3779(3): 341–352.