Taxonomy

Metahomaloptera omeiensis omeiensis Chang, 1944

Basically following ESCHMEYER (2006) I treat Balitoridae as a valid family, while YUE et al. (2000) place the genus Metahomaloptera in the subfamily Homalopterinae and in the family Homalopteridae. The specimen has been determined using the key to the species in YUE et al. Below you can find the relevant species tree:

 

• Order Cypriniformes
• Family Balitoridae
• Genus Metahomaloptera
• Species/Subspecies
• Metahomaloptera longicauda Yang, Chen & Yang, 2007
• Metahomaloptera omeiensis omeiensis Chang, 1944
• Metahomaloptera omeiensis hangshuiensis Xie, Yang & Gong, 1984

The displayed specimen has been identified by the following characteristics; more than one unbranched ray in the paired fins, the gill opening is narrow and do not reach the ventral side of the specimen, the number of pectoral rays is below 25 (21-25 for Metahomaloptera omeiensis omeiensis, 27-29 for M. omeiensis hangshuiensis). The pictures show a in 95% alcohol preserved specimen.

Marco Endruweit, September 2006, updated 2008-10-18, classification tree updated 2008-12-10