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15 September 2006 A New Species of Raiamas (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Lower Congo River, with a Phylogenetic Assessment of the Generic Limits of the Predatory Cyprinid Genera Opsaridium, Raiamas, and Leptocypris
Melanie L. J. Stiassny, Robert C. Schelly, Ulrich K. Schliewen
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

In the course of ongoing survey work in the lower Congo River, two collections of an undescribed species of the predatory cyprinid genus Raiamas have been made; one in the Congo main channel in the vicinity of Inga, and a second in the Inkisi River, a large south bank tributary of the Congo. Discovery of this new taxon has prompted a reexamination of potentially related taxa of adjacent regions and an attempt to provide generic diagnoses for the morphologically similar cyprinid genera Leptocypris, Raiamas, and Opsaridium. Based on a series of derived features of the neurocranium, pectoral girdle, jaws, and suspensorium, anatomical diagnoses for the three cyprinid genera are provided. We reassign Opsaridium christyi to Raiamas and Raiamas weeksii to Leptocypris. These two generic reassignments and the discovery of the new Raiamas bring the number of species of Raiamas confirmed from the lower Congo River to four: R. salmolucius, R. buchholzi, R. christyi, and the new species, R. kheeli, described herein. The reassignment of Opsaridium weeksii to Leptocypris raises the number of species of Leptocypris recorded from the region to four: L. modestus, L. lujae, L. weynsii, and L. weeksii.

2006 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Melanie L. J. Stiassny, Robert C. Schelly, and Ulrich K. Schliewen "A New Species of Raiamas (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Lower Congo River, with a Phylogenetic Assessment of the Generic Limits of the Predatory Cyprinid Genera Opsaridium, Raiamas, and Leptocypris," Copeia 2006(3), 370-377, (15 September 2006). https://doi.org/10.1643/0045-8511(2006)2006[370:ANSORT]2.0.CO;2
Received: 14 November 2005; Accepted: 9 May 2006; Published: 15 September 2006
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