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Cypriniformes: Nemacheilidae
Nemacheilus elegantissimus Chin & Samat, 1992
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Nemacheilus elegantissimus Chin & Samat, 1992
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original designation
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The generic name ‘Nemacheilus’ is composed of two greek words; ‘néma’ means ‘thread’, ‘cheilos’ means ‘lip’; the composition is an allusion to the filamentous barbels around the mouth.
The specific epithet ‘elegantissimus’ is the superlative of elegant meaning ‘the most elegant’; an adjective which has to agree in gender with the generic name.
max. 53 mm SL, male, unsexed (Chin & Samat, 1992).
Roughly 43 mm TL (ME, pers. obs., 2009-06-04, EW-MAL 10-09).
Figure 1. Nemacheilus elegantissimus; not preserved; 43 mm TL; lateral view; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Coloration: 17-21 blotches along lateral line; lateral line somewhat light green iridescent; shares synapomorphies of N. longipectoralis group (see remarks).
Unknown for N. elegantissimus; closely related species show sexual dimorphism; suborbital flap, first branched pectoral ray thicker and tubercles on dorsal surface of pectoral rays and body above in males.
Inhabiting riverine environments with slow to fast current running over flat round pebbles; clear and transparent water; pH 7.6; 29 ºC (measured in 30 cm depth); 80 µS/cm (ME, pers. obs., 2009-06-04, EW-MAL 10-09).
Populates Sungai Segama (terra typica) in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, National Park, Tawau Division, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, and the upper reaches of the Sungai Kuamut, a tributary to the Sungai Kinabatangan, Sandakan Division, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia (Chin & Samat, 1992; Martin-Smith & Tan, 1998). Also occurs in the Sungai Telupit, a tributary to the Sungai Labuk, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, which seem to mark the northern boundary of distribution (ME, pers. obs., 2009-06-04, EW-MAL 10-09).
Endemic to basins east of Crocker Mountain Range, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Benthopelagic; grouping in 4-6 individuals; never singly; permanently, agilely foraging above substratum; around 10 m in front of riffle section at 50 cm depth, always keeping slightdistance to substratum, permanently browsing; syntop with Rasbora sumatrana (Bleeker, 1852) and Gastromyzon spp. in EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia; stream with slow current, canopy coverage 30%, max 30 m, 1.2 m deep, riffle section 0.3 deep, no vascular water plants, bottom: sand, pebbles, boulders, leaf litter, wood; water: clear; 98 m asl (ME, pers. obs., 2009-06-04, EW-MAL 10-09).
IUCN Red List not evaluated.
As in the natural biotope a group of fishes should contain at least 4 individuals; 80 cm tank due to extensive movement of the group; flat round pebbles, slow water movement; voluminous filtration; driftwood, plants in the back creating space for hiding; requires much open space for swimming.
Not bred in captive so far.
N. elegantissimus belongs into the N. longipectoralis group with N. longipectoralis Popta, 1904, N. masyae Smith, 1933, N. pallidus Kottelat, 1990, and share synapomorphies as follows: small size, forked to deeply forked caudal fin; coloration: series of blotches along lateral line, series of saddle blotches along dorsal line, black blotch in anteriormost rays of dorsal fin at about 1/4 of its height, prominent black spot at caudal peduncle, dark blotches at snout tip, head dorsally between eyes, postorbitally on operculum.
Some authors regard N.masyae as a junior synonyme of N. longipectoralis, for further reading see Kottelat (1990).
Insectivorous, feeding upon insect larvae hidden in the interspaces of the pebbles.
Figure 2. Nemacheilus elegantissimus; not preserved; laterofrontal view; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Figure 3. Nemacheilus elegantissimus; not preserved; dorsolateral view; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Figure 4. Nemacheilus elegantissimus; not preserved; lateral view; 43 mm TL; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Figure 5. Biotope of Nemacheilus elegantissimus; northward view; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
Figure 6. Biotope of Nemacheilus elegantissimus; bottom substratum; EW-MAL 10-09, Sungai Telupit, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia.
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