Altigena Burton 1934 is a class of benthic large and medium-sized fish distributed in China and Southeast Asia, belonging to the Cypridae family Cyprinidae, the subfamily Labeoninae. Kottelat (2007) revised the genus Bangana based on the molecular results of Yang Lei et al. (2012) on the molecular phylogenetic study of the subfamily Of the genus P. vanna, dividing the genus Homoceros from it and redefining the genera of the genus; subsequent scholars have supported the genus as a monophyletic group (Zheng et al., 2019) through the study of Banganasensu lato of the broad bengal carp genus Banganasensu lato.
Altigena lippa (Fowler, 1936) was known as Labeo lippus before 1998 and was later classified by Kottelat (1998) into the Genus Bangana, and in 2017, Kottelat placed Bangana lippa in the genus Bangana. Altigena laticeps (Wu & Lin, 1977) was founded as the Estuary Mandarin (later renamed Estuary Tall Carp A. Lopez). Tonkinensis) subspecies (Broad-headed Chinese carp, Sinilabeo tonkinensis laticeps), which was later promoted to independent species Sinibeo laticeps (Chu Xinluo et al., 1989), in 2001, Kottelat identified it as lipid Bengal carp B. Lippa is synonymous, and the taxonomic status of the species has not changed since then.
In collaboration with Lin Feng, ph.D. candidate of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Researcher Chen Xiaoyong, the Florida Museum of Natural History, usa, conducted morphological studies on the model specimens and ground model specimens of Broad-headed Tall Carp (Broad-headed Crucian Carp) and Lipid Carp (Lipid Bengal Carp), respectively, and found that there were obvious discontinuities in the morphological characteristics of the number of lateral scales (40-42 vs. 34-39), the anterior scales of the dorsal fin (14-16 vs. 9-12) and the bichal stalk scales (20 vs. 16). It can be distinguished between the broad-headed tall carp and the lipid carp. The study restored the species availability and re-described the species of Broad-headed Carp, determined that its correct taxonomic status should be Altigena laticeps, a species endemic to the lower Lancang River, and revised the distribution area of The Lembrous to clarify that it is mainly distributed in the Mekong River Basin of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. So far, a total of 13 effective species have been recorded in the genus Talloptera.
Recently, the relevant research results were published in Zootaxa under the title of Taxonomic revisions of Altigena laticeps and A. lippa (Cyprinidae: Labeoninae) from the Mekong River Basin. The research was supported by the Biodiversity Survey, Observation and Assessment Project of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (2019-2023), the Lancang-Mekong River Cooperation Special Fund of the Ministry of Science and Technology (Lancang-Mekong River Basin Biodiversity Monitoring and Network Construction Project) and the Southeast Asian Biodiversity Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Figure 1. Photograph of lipid carp specimens
Figure 2: Specimen of the broad-headed tall carp
Fig. 3. Broad-headed tall carp live
Source: Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences