In a recent survey of populations of the Korean torrent catfish Liobagrus, a distinctive species was discovered from the Geum River and its tributaries flowing into the western coast of Korea, and here described as a new species, L.geumgangensissp. nov. It is distinguishable from other congeners by a combination of the following characters: I, 8 pectoral fin-rays; 52-56 caudal-fin rays; a relatively short occiput to dorsal-fin origin distance (6.9-9.8% SL); a short pelvic-fin insertion to anal-fin origin distance (11.9-17.3% SL); a long dorsal-fin base (10.6-13.5% SL); 8-9 gill rakers; 5-8 serrations on the pectoral fin; the body and fins are dark yellow, the margins of the dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are dark brown, but the outermost rim is faintly yellow. Analysis of the cytb gene also confirmed that L.geumgangensis is a monophyletic lineage distinct from other congeners.
Keywords: Catfishes; DNA; cytb; geographical speciation; key; morphometrics; taxonomy.
Su-hwan Kim, Seung-woon Yun, Jong-young Park.