Pseudobarbus, Smith, 1841

Zarei, Fatah, Mathebula, Xiluva & Chakona, Albert, 2025, The Doring River population of Pseudobarbus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) does not merit formal description, Zootaxa 5701 (5), pp. 547-562 : 553-557

Morphological description of the Pseudobarbus population in the Doring River

( Figs. 4 & 5 )

The following morphological description is based on material from the Doring River (see Material examined), with comparisons to the Olifants River population provided in Table 4 and in the Discussion section.

General morphology. Body proportions and meristics in Table 4 . Body moderately elongate, fusiform; dorsal profile more convex than ventral; deepest at dorsal fin origin, depth 3.7–4.2 in SL; laterally compressed. Caudal peduncle shallow, depth 0.5–0.6 times its length. Head large, length 3.7–4.2 in SL, depressed; depth 5.1–6.1 in SL, 0.6–0.8 times body depth. Postorbital profile steep. Snout blunt, short, oblique, convex, longer than eye; length 1.1–1.4 times eye diameter, 2.8–3.6 in head length. Eyes large, diameter 3.8–4.3 in head length, dorsolateral, not extending above dorsal profile, closer to snout tip than operculum. Interorbital wide, slightly convex, width 1.3–1.6 times eye diameter. Mouth sub-terminal, sickle-shaped, corner reaching vertical through middle of nares. Single pair of short maxillary barbels; length 0.4–0.7 times orbit diameter, extending between anterior eye edge and anterior pupil edge. Anterior barbels absent.

Tubercles. Mature breeding males with conical tubercles on snout and head. Bilateral snout clusters (1–3 tubercles, usually 1 per cluster). Arc of large tubercles (1–3) above each naris, extending to antero-dorsal orbit, continuing posteriorly along dorsal orbit edge with 1–3 (usually 1) smaller tubercles. Anterior and posterior dorsal clusters typically lacking tubercles, occasionally with tiny blunt ones. No tubercles on fin rays or free edge of laterodorsal scales in examined specimens.

Scales. LL 35–39 (35:2, 36:5, 37:4, 38:7, 39:1), LD 5–6 (5:9, 6:10), LP 4–5 (4:13, 5:6), LA 3–5 (3:1, 4:11, 5:7), CP 13–15 (13:6, 14:12, 15:1), PDS 16–18 (16:6, 17:11, 18:2). Nape naked. Predorsal scales embedded, smaller than flank scales. Triangular area between gill cover and pectoral fin base naked or scaled. Ventral scales between pectoral and pelvic fin origins reduced, embedded. Scales cycloid.

Fins. Dorsal fin elements iii/6–7 (iii/6:1, iii/7:18); anal fin elements iii/5; pectoral fin elements 14–15 (14:15, 15:5); pelvic fin elements 8; caudal fin principal rays 9+8. Dorsal fin near body center (excluding caudal fin), origin slightly behind pelvic fin origin; distal margin straight to slightly concave. Depressed dorsal fin nearly reaches anal fin base in both sexes, within 1–2 scales in larger specimens. Pectoral fins fan-shaped, larger in males; reaches or surpasses pelvic fin base in males, within 1–2 scales in females. Pelvic fin origin slightly anterior to dorsal fin origin. Anal fin with straight to slightly convex margin, origin closer to pelvic fin base than caudal fin. Caudal fin forked.

Osteology (n=10). Vertebral column including Weberian apparatus and urostyle: total vertebrae 36–38 (36:2, 37:6, 38:2), predorsal vertebrae 12–13 (12:1, 13:9), precaudal vertebrae 20–21 (20:5, 21:5), and caudal vertebrae 16–18 (16:7, 17:1, 18:2).

Coloration. Refer to Figure 4A for general live coloration. The background body color is golden-tan, with silvery-white lower flanks and belly. The head is darker dorsally and lighter ventrally. A dark brown lateral stripe extends from just behind the head to the base of the caudal fin. The body is typically heavily blotched with irregular black spots, except on the ventral belly region. Fin membranes are hyaline at the distal edges and brilliant red near the base. For the coloration of preserved specimens, see Figure 5 .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Pseudobarbus phlegethon in its natural environment: A) Breekkrans, Doring River; B) Rondegat, Olifants River. Photos by J. Shelton.

FIGURE 5. Pseudobarbus phlegethon (preserved) from the Doring and Olifants rivers.