The big-head schizothoracin (''Aspiorhynchus laticeps'') is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

, the family which includes the carps, barbs and related fishes. It is the only member of the genus ''Aspiorhynchus'', which is classified within the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Schizothoracinae, the snow barbels. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, where it was found only in stagnant lakes and slow flowing rivers in the basin of the Tarim He. The only nown extant population is in the Kezier Reservoir, a population maintained by the introduction of captive bred fish. The big-head schizothracin is a predatory species which feeds on other cyprinids and ''

Triplophysa ''Triplophysa'' is a genus of fish in the family Nemacheilidae found mainly in and around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, as well as inland waters of the larger part of central Asia. They can be distinguished from other genera of Nemacheilid ...

'' loaches. It migrates into smaller, bouder strewn

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...

streams to spawn.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4904835 Schizothoracinae Cyprinid fish of Asia Endemic fauna of China Freshwater fish of China Biota of Xinjiang Endangered fish Endangered fauna of Asia Fish described in 1877 Endangered Fauna of China

See also

References