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Issue: Vol. 3586 No. 1: 14 Dec. 2012
Type: Articles
Published: 2012-12-14
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3586.1.33
Page range: 353–358
Abstract views: 30
PDF downloaded: 18

Sexual dimorphism in species of Schistura (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from the Mae Khlong basin and peninsular Thailand

Environment Science Program, Faculty of Science, Burapha University, Bangsaen, Chonburi, 20131, Thailand
Environment Science Program, Faculty of Science, Burapha University, Bangsaen, Chonburi, 20131, Thailand
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
Fish loaches suborbital flap suborbital groove

Abstract

Sexually dimorphic characteristics are described for four species of Schistura from the Mae Khlong basin and peninsularThailand. Males of S. mahnerti have a suborbital flap and rows of unculi on the upper surfaces of the pectoral-fin rays.Females of S. mahnerti have a suborbital groove. None of the morphological measurements differ significantly betweenmales and females of S. mahnerti. In the other three species, S. aurantiaca, S. cf. aurantiaca, and S. sexcauda, all indi-viduals lack the flap or groove, but most males have a conspicuous black botch on the procurrent rays of the upper lobeof the caudal fin, a feature absent in most females. Some morphometric characteristics vary between sexes of these spe-cies. Sexually dimorphic traits presumably have a function related to reproduction; however, little is known about reproduction in Schistura, and variation in morphology in relation to habitat or other environmental factors has not been studied.

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