‘Thick’-lipped creature found at bottom of canal in Uzbekistan. It’s a new species
At the bottom of a canal in Central Asia, a blotchy creature with “thick” lips swam through the muddy water. Something about it caught the attention of visiting scientists — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a new species.
Researchers visited the “middle portion of the Great Fergana Canal,” a man-made canal stretching across eastern Uzbekistan, to survey wildlife, according to a study published Nov. 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Zotaxa. They were looking for a specific group of fish known as stone loaches.
During the surveys, researchers found a dozen blotchy fish and, after taking a closer look, realized they’d discovered a new species: Dzihunia pseudoamudarjensis, or the false stone loach.
False stone loaches have “scaleless” bodies reaching about 5 inches in length, the study said. Their “long” heads have a “blunt” snout, “small” eyes and “thick, strongly furrowed” lips.
Photos show the yellow and brown coloring of the new species. Irregular markings wind across its sides. Pink whisker-like barbels jut off of its head.
False stone loaches live along the rocky bottom of a “slowly flowing,” sediment-filled waterway, the study said.
Researchers said they named the new species “pseudoamudarjensis” after the Latin word “pseudo,” or “false,” and the known species Dzihunia amudarjensis. The new species was previously misidentified as Dzihunia amudarjensis.
So far, false stone loaches have only been found in the Great Fergana Canal near Kokand, the study said. Kokand is a city in eastern Uzbekistan and near the border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The new species was identified by its DNA, coloring, fin shape, snout, skeleton and other subtle physical features, researchers said.
The research team included Bakhtiyor Sheraliev and Yorkinoy Kayumova.
This story was originally published November 15, 2024 at 10:57 AM with the headline "‘Thick’-lipped creature found at bottom of canal in Uzbekistan. It’s a new species."
