Pseudorasbora elongata Wu, 1939
Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae: Gobioninae
max. SL 117 mm (YUE in CHEN et al., 1998)
D III,7; A III,6; lateral line scales 43-45; predorsal scales 14-16; circumpeduncular scales 16; pharyngeal teeth 1 row 5-5 (KONG, CUI & YANG, 2006).
Figure 1. Pseudorasbora elongata; lateral, dorsal, ventral view; preserved, specimen collected 2006-06-23 in Qiantangjiang River basin, Zhejiang Province, SE China.
Endemic to China; occurring in the Lijiang (漓江) and Liujiang River (柳江) systems (Zhenchonghe River[震冲河]), Pearl River basin, Guangxi Province, S China, in the Xinanjiang River(西南江), Qiantangjiang River (钱塘江) basin, Zhejiang Province, SE China, and in the Qiupuhe River (秋浦河) basin, Yangtse River, Anhui Province, E China (KONG, CUI & YANG, 2006; WANG et al., 1998). Distribution map.
Rare species throughout the entire distributional range, small populations.
Schooling fish, up to 30 specimen, living in the upper and middle waters of clear water streams with slow current. It prefers small stream branches rather than the main stream.
Spawning occurs from May to June (WANG et al., 1998). No further data on reproduction available. Males of its congeners Ps. parva and Ps. fowleri are reported egg guarding (BAENSCH & RIEHL, 1985, 1997).
IUCN Red List not evaluated.
Usual fish, reminds on the neotropical pencil fishes of the genus Nannostomus Günther, 1872 but grows much bigger, extraordinary mouth direction.
WANG et al. (1998) rank Ps. elongata ‘vulnerable’. Since the original description the fish has not been reported until 1964 when few fishes were collected. It is widely extirpated in the Lijiang River. There are no protective measures or breeding programs in place.
KONG, CUI & YANG (2006) observed a school of fishes in Zhenchonghe River in October 2005 close to Mount Dayaoshan.
YANG et al. (2006) showed through gene sequence analysis that Pseudorasbora Bleeker, 1860 is not monophyletic. Ps. elongata seems to be more close related to Pungtungia herzi Herzenstein, 1892 than to Ps. parva leaving two possibilities; Pungtungia Herzenstein, 1892 is synonymized with Pseudorasbora or Ps. elongata will be transferred into Pungtungia.
The specific epithet ‘elongata’ means elongated, stretched; an adjective with feminine gender suffix; has to follow generic gender.
‘Pseudorasbora’ is a composition of ‘pseudo’ meaning wrong or false, ‘rasbora’ is a name of a common cyprinid genus. The gender is feminine.
