A New Blind Underground Species of the Genus Triplophysa (Balitoridae) from Yunnan, China

A new species of the genus Triplophysa was discovered in underground water of a cave near Nijiao Village, Qiubei County (24°05′N，104°01′E), Yunnan, China, in 2002 and 2006. The new species, Triplophysa qiubeiensis is similar to T. anterodorsalis Cao et Zhu (1989), and can be distinguished from all the cave-dwelling Triplophysa in China by the following characters: 1) eyes highly degenerated vs. eyes normal; 2) branched dorsal–fin ray 7 vs. 8－9; 3) caudal fin forked vs. emarginate. The new species is also similar to T. macromaculeta Yang (1990) from the same river system, Nanpan Jiang, but can be distinguished from the latter the following characters: 1) eyes highly degenerated vs. eyes normal; 2) without blotches vs. with blotches; 3) caudal fin forked vs. emarginate.