Science meets the Himalayas! A joint research team from the Institute of Plateau Biology, the Xizang Museum of Natural Science, Zaozhuang University, and the Institute of Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered a brand-new fish species in Zayul County, in the southwest of the Chinese mainland’s Xizang Autonomous Region. 🐟🏔️
Collected from the Zayul River in April this year, these catfish were initially mistaken for Glaridoglanis andersonii. But after examining their shape and DNA, the researchers confirmed they belong to a totally new glyptosternine catfish, now named Glaridoglanis verruciloba sp. nov.
This little fish stands out with an enlarged lower lip featuring four to seven verruciform lobes (fancy term for wart-like bumps) on its central-posterior edge. Along with other unique traits, it earned its own spot on the fish family tree through detailed morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses.
As the third valid species in the Glaridoglanis genus, G. verruciloba offers fresh clues about how freshwater fishes originated, diversified, and adapted along the southeastern edge of the Himalayas. These findings, published this week in the journal ZooKeys, highlight the amazing biodiversity tucked away in remote mountain rivers. 🌊🔬
Next time you hit up a mountain stream, remember: nature still has surprises for us to discover! ✨
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
