TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS Acanthocobitis (TELEOSTEI: NEMACHEILIDAE) WITH RECOGNITION OF THE GENUS Paracanthocobitis (TELEOSTEI: NEMACHEILIDAE) AND THE DESCRIPTION OF FOUR NEW SPECIES By RANDAL ANTHONY SINGER A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Randal Anthony Singer 2 To my family for all their love and support 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Funding for this study provided by the All Cypriniformes Species Inventory project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB 1022720). I thank Dr. Lawrence Page for guidance and direction on this project, and for editorial review during the writing process. I would also like to thank Dr. William Smith-Vaniz and Dr. Akito Kawahara for guidance and review on my committee. For specimen loans I would like to thank the following people: Dave Catania (CAS), Rob Robins (UF), Jeff Williams (USNM), Doug Nelson (UMMZ), Florian Wicker (SMF), Kelvin Lim (ZRC), Mary Burridge (ROM), Karsten Hartel (MCZ), Andy Bentley (KU), Peter Bartsch (ZMB), Uli Schliewen and Dirk Neumann (ZSM), Patrice Pruvost (MHNH), and Chaiwut Grudpan (UMNF). I would also like to thank Steven Grant for use of his photos, information regarding fishes, and his groundwork on the group. I thank Jesse Grosso for providing help with composing maps and georeferencing localities. I thank Dr. Daniel Lumbantobing for assisting in the osteology analysis and guidance. I thank Zachary Randall for assistance with photography and formatting. Rob Robins for help with editing and guidance in research process. I thank Bill Eschmeyer for his extensive work on the Catalog of Fishes, which provided a great deal of information for this study. Lastly, I would like to thank my wife Corie Singer and my daughter Adelaide Singer for support and patience during my research and studies. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 11 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 12 Taxonomic History .................................................................................................. 12 Natural History ........................................................................................................ 13 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................................... 15 Institutional Abbreviations for Material Examined ................................................... 16 Material Examined .................................................................................................. 17 Acanthocobitis pavonacea ................................................................................ 17 Paracanthocobitis abutwebi, n.sp. .................................................................... 17 Paracanthocobitis adelaideae, n.sp. ................................................................. 18 Paracanthocobitis botia .................................................................................... 18 Paracanthocobitis linypha, n.sp. ....................................................................... 18 Paracanthocobitis mackenziei .......................................................................... 19 Paracanthocobitis maekhlongensis, n.sp. ........................................................ 22 Paracanthocobitis mandalayensis .................................................................... 22 Paracanthocobitis mooreh ................................................................................ 23 Paracanthocobitis pictilis .................................................................................. 23 Paracanthocobitis rubidipinnis .......................................................................... 23 Paracanthocobitis urophthalma ........................................................................ 24 Paracanthocobitis zonalternans ....................................................................... 24 SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNTS .......................................................................................... 28 Genus Acanthocobitis ............................................................................................. 28 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 28 Description ....................................................................................................... 28 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 29 Remarks ........................................................................................................... 29 Acanthocobitis pavonacea (McClelland, 1839) ....................................................... 30 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 30 Description ....................................................................................................... 30 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 31 Genus Paracanthocobitis ........................................................................................ 31 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 31 5 Description ....................................................................................................... 32 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 32 Paracanthocobitis abutwebi, n.sp. .......................................................................... 32 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 33 Description ....................................................................................................... 33 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 34 Etymology ......................................................................................................... 34 Paracanthocobitis adelaideae, n.sp. ....................................................................... 34 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 34 Description ....................................................................................................... 35 Comparison ...................................................................................................... 35 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 35 Etymology ......................................................................................................... 36 Paracanthocobitis botia (Hamilton, 1822) ............................................................... 36 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 37 Description ....................................................................................................... 37 Comparison ...................................................................................................... 38 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 38 Remarks ........................................................................................................... 38 Paracanthocobitis linypha, n.sp. ............................................................................. 39 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 39 Description ....................................................................................................... 39 Comparison ...................................................................................................... 40 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 40 Etymology ......................................................................................................... 40 Paracanthocobitis mackenziei (Chaudhuri, 1910) ................................................... 41 Diagnosis .......................................................................................................... 41 Description ....................................................................................................... 41 Comparison ...................................................................................................... 42 Distribution ....................................................................................................... 42 Remarks ..........................................................................................................