''Sinocyclocheilus altishoulderus'' (common name: high-shoulder golden-line barbel) is a species of

cave fish Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and ...

in the family

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest v ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to Guangxi province in southern China, and only known from a cave in

Donglan County Donglan County (, Zhuang: ) is a county of northwest Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Hechi City. Donglan County has given its name to the Donglan golden-line barbel ('' Sinocyclocheilus donglanensis''), a small fish that is on ...

, from a subterranean tributary of the

Hongshui River The Hongshui River is a major river in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is one of the main rivers in the basin of the Xi River, which in its turn is one of the main tributaries of the Pearl River. Because it flows thr ...

, a tributary of the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all ...

Description

''Sinocyclocheilus altishoulderus'' grow to

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

; mean length is much less, about . The eyes are small. The body is hump-backed and depigmented, semi-transparent and whitish in colour.

Ecology and behaviour

Ecology and behaviour of this species are unknown. It shares its habitat (and type locality) with another cave fish species, '' Sinocyclocheilus donglanensis''.

Habitat and conservation

The

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

, near Gongping Village, Taiping Town, Donglan County, is a subterranean river some 10–20 metres inside from the mouth of a small cave. During the rainy season, the water can extend outside the cave to form a small lake. The habitat is potentially threatened by water extraction, waste disposal and

pesticide pollution The environmental effects of pesticides describe the broad series of consequences of using pesticides. The unintended consequences of pesticides is one of the main drivers of the negative impact of modern industrial agriculture on the environme ...

, and landscape alterations in general.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3764784 Cave fish altishoulderus Freshwater fish of China Endemic fauna of Guangxi Fish described in 1992