''Schizothorax'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

fish found in southern and western China, through northern

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

(

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

) and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, to Iran, with a single species, ''S. prophylax'', in Turkey.Yang, J.; J.X. Yang; and X.Y. Chen (2012). A re-examination of the molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Schizothorax (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) through enhanced sampling, with emphasis on the species in the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, China. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 50(3). They are primarily found in highland rivers, streams and lakes, although a few species occur in lower-lying locations, like

Lake Balkhash Lake Balkhash ( kk, Балқаш көлі, ''Balqaş kóli'', ; russian: озеро Балхаш, ozero Balkhash) is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the ea ...

and lakes of the

Sistan Basin The Sistan Basin is an inland endorheic basin encompassing large parts of southwestern Afghanistan and minor parts of southeastern Iran, one of the driest regions in the world and an area subjected to prolonged droughts. Its watershed is a syst ...

.Coad, B.; and J. Hales (2008)
Helmand - Sistan.
Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Retrieved 18 May 2019. Their

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

means "cloven-breast", from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

() 'to cleave' and () 'breast-plate' (see also

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

). The western

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

are typically referred to as ''marinkas'' from their

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

name (), while the eastern species are usually called snowtrout. Although they do resemble

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

s in habitus this is merely due to

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

and they are by no means closely related apart from both being

Teleostei Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts ), is, by far, the largest class (biology), infraclass in the class Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes, containing 96% of a ...

: Cyprinids are in the teleost

superorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Ostariophysi Ostariophysi is the second-largest superorder of fish. Members of this superorder are called ostariophysians. This diverse group contains 10,758 species, about 28% of known fish species in the world and 68% of freshwater species, and are present ...

, while trouts are in the superorder

Protacanthopterygii Protacanthopterygii is a ray-finned fish taxon ranked as a superorder of the infraclass Teleostei. They inhabit both marine and freshwater habitats. They appear to have evolved in the Cretaceous or perhaps late Jurassic, originating probably rou ...

. Their ancestors must thus have diverged as early as the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...

, more than 200

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

. ''Schizothorax'' is a part of the schizothoracines (snowtrout and allies), which also includes the genera '' Aspiorhynchus'', ''

Chuanchia ''Chuanchia labiosa'' is a species of cyprinid fish that is only found in the upper reaches of the Yellow River basin in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China, where it mostly inhabits slow-flowing cold waters at altitudes above . It is the only ...

'', ''

Diptychus ''Diptychus'' is a genus of cyprinid freshwater fish, consisting of two species found in Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau of China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, ranging west to the Tien Shan Mountains and Central Asia.Li, G.; Y. Tang; R. Zhang; and ...

'', ''

Gymnodiptychus ''Gymnodiptychus'' is a genus of cyprinid fish found in freshwater habitats in the highlands of China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.Kustareva, L.A., and A.M. Naseka (2015). Fish diversity in Kyrgyzstan: Species composition, fisheries and management ...

'', ''

Gymnocypris ''Gymnocypris'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to China. Species There are currently 10 recognized species in this genus: * ''Gymnocypris chilianensis'' S. C. Li & S. Y. Chang, 1974 * ''Gymnocypris chui'' T. L. Tchang, T ...

'', ''

Oxygymnocypris ''Oxygymnocypris stewartii'' is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to Tibet and occurs in the Yarlung Tsangpo River (=upper Brahmaputra) and its tributaries at altitudes above in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is the only species in its genus. ...

'', '' Platypharodon'', ''

Ptychobarbus ''Ptychobarbus'' is a genus of cyprinid fish that is found in rivers, streams and lakes in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau of China, India, Nepal and Pakistan, extending into the highlands of Afghanistan. They reach up to in weight and about ...

'', ''

Schizopyge ''Schizopyge'' is a genus of cyprinid freshwater fish found in Pakistan and the northwestern part of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the sec ...

'' and ''

Schizopygopsis ''Schizopygopsis'' is a genus of cyprinid fish. Most species are endemic to river basins in the Himalayas and Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China, but ''S. stoliczkai'' extends into the highlands of Afghanistan, Iran, northern India, Kyrgyzstan, Pak ...

''.Qi, D.; Y. Chao; S. Guo; L. Zhao; T. Li; F. Wei; and X. Zhao (2012). Convergent, Parallel and Correlated Evolution of Trophic Morphologies in the Subfamily Schizothoracinae from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. PLoS ONE 7(3): e34070. The last two were formerly often included in the present genus, and their delimitation is still not entirely clear. In any case, the genus ''Schizothorax'' (and other "snowtrouts") are in turn related to such cyprinids as the typical

barbel Barbel may refer to: *Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles *Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish **''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprinid ...

s (''

Barbus ''Barbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. The type species of ''Barbus'' is the common barbel, first described as ''Cyprinus barbus'' and now named ''Barbus barbus''. ''Barbus'' is the namesake genus of the subfamily B ...

'' ''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' and the doubtfully distinct ''

Luciobarbus ''Luciobarbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are found in fresh and brackish waters of southern Europe, northern Africa, the wider Near East, the Aral and Caspian Seas, and rivers associated with these. ...

'' and '' Messinobarbus''), ''

Carasobarbus ''Carasobarbus'', the himris, is a small genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its species are found in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in Western Asia and Northwest Africa. ''C. canis'' can reach in total length, but most other ...

'', ''

Labeobarbus ''Labeobarbus'' is a mid-sized ray-finned fish genus in the family Cyprinidae. Its species are widely distributed throughout eastern Africa and especially southern Africa, but also in Lake Tana in Ethiopia. A common name, in particular for th ...

'', ''

Aulopyge The Dalmatian barbelgudgeon (''Aulopyge huegelii'') is a European ray-finned fish species in the family (biology), family Cyprinidae. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Aulopyge''. The genus name is derived from the ancient Greek ''au ...

'' and ''

Cyprinion ''Cyprinion'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. Species * '' Cyprinion acinaces'' Banister & M. A. Clarke, 1977 ** '' Cyprinion acinaces acinaces'' Banister & M. A. Clarke, 1977 ** '' Cyprinion acinaces hijazi'' Krupp, ...

''. They were thus placed in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Barbinae Barbinae are a subfamily of fish included in the family Cyprinidae. The taxonomy for this group has not been entirely worked out as some genera historically considered within it are still considered incertae sedis with respect to being a member ...

, which is quite

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

however and thus here merged with the

Cyprininae The Cyprininae are one of at least 11 subfamilies of cyprinid fish. It contains three genera in its strictest definition but many more are included depending on which authority is defining it, especially if the Labeobarbinae is not considered to ...

at least for the largest part (including the marinkas), becoming its

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

in the process.

Species

There are currently 65 recognized species in this genus: * '' Schizothorax argentatus''

Kessler Kessler or Keßler (in German) may refer to: * Kessler (automobile), an American automobile made 1921–1922 * Kessler (name), people named Kessler * ''Kessler'' (TV series), a British television series from 1981 * Kessler, Ohio, an unincorporat ...

, 1874 (Balkhash marinka) * '' Schizothorax beipanensis'' J. Yang, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2009 * ''

Schizothorax biddulphi ''Schizothorax biddulphi'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Schizothorax'' from the family Cyprinidae. It is found in the Tarim River and Boston Lake in Xijiang, China. Where it occurs in rivers and lakes with little or no current w ...

'' Günther, 1876 * '' Schizothorax chivae'' Arunkumar & Alphonsa Moyon, 2016Arunkumar, L. & Alphonsa Moyon, W. (2016): ''Schizothorax chivae'', a new schizothoracid fish from Chindwin basin, Manipur, India (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). ''International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies, 3 (2): 65-70.'' * '' Schizothorax chongi'' ( P. W. Fang, 1936) * '' Schizothorax cryptolepis'' T. Y. Fu & M. R. Ye, 1984 * '' Schizothorax curvifrons'' Heckel, 1838 (Sattar snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax curvilabiatus'' (Wu & Tsao, 1992) * '' Schizothorax davidi'' ( Sauvage, 1880) * '' Schizothorax dolichonema'' Herzenstein, 1889 * '' Schizothorax dulongensis'' S. Y. Huang, 1985 * '' Schizothorax edeniana''

McClelland McClelland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alyssa McClelland, Australian actress * Charles A. McClelland (1917–2006), American political systems analyst * Charles P. McClelland (1854–1944), New York politician, and US ...

, 1842 * '' Schizothorax elongatus'' S. Y. Huang, 1985 * '' Schizothorax esocinus'' Heckel, 1838 (Chirruh snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax eurystomus''

, 1872 * '' Schizothorax gongshanensis'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax grahami'' (

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1904) * '' Schizothorax griseus'' Pellegrin, 1931 * '' Schizothorax heteri'' J. Yang, L. P. Zheng, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2013Yang, J., Zheng, L.-P., Chen, X.-Y. & Yang, J.-X. (2013)
Description of two new species and revision of ''Schizothorax'' distributed in the Irrawaddy drainage area in China.
''Zoological Research, 34 (4): 361-367.'' * '' Schizothorax heterochilus'' M. R. Ye & T. Y. Fu, 1986 * '' Schizothorax heterophysallidos'' J. Yang, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2009 * '' Schizothorax huegelii'' Heckel, 1838 * '' Schizothorax integrilabiatus'' (Wu et al., 1992) * '' Schizothorax kozlovi'' A. M. Nikolskii, 1903 * '' Schizothorax kumaonensis''

Menon Menon may refer to: People *Menon (subcaste), an honorary title accorded to some members of the Nair community of Kerala, southern India; used as a surname by many holders of the title Surnamed *Menon (surname), the surname of several people Give ...

, 1971 (Kumaon snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax labiatus'' (

, 1842) (Kunar snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax labrosus'' Y. H. Wang, D. D. Zhuang & L. C. Gao, 1981 * '' Schizothorax lantsangensis'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax lepidothorax'' J. X. Yang, 1991 * '' Schizothorax leukus'' J. Yang, L. P. Zheng, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2013 * '' Schizothorax lissolabiatus'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax longibarbus'' ( P. W. Fang, 1936) * '' Schizothorax macrophthalmus'' Terashima, 1984 (Nepalese snowtrout) * ''

Schizothorax macropogon ''Schizothorax macropogon'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Schizothorax'' which is known only from the upper Brahmaputra River in Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Platea ...

, 1905 * '' Schizothorax malacanthus'' S. Y. Huang, 1985 * '' Schizothorax meridionalis'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax microcephalus'' F. Day, 1877 * '' Schizothorax microstomus'' S. Y. Huang, 1982 * '' Schizothorax molesworthi'' ( B. L. Chaudhuri, 1913) (Blunt-nosed snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax myzostomus'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax nasus'' Heckel, 1838 (Dongu snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax nepalensis'' Terashima, 1984 * '' Schizothorax ninglangensis'' Y. H. Wang, K. X. Zhang & D. D. Zhuang, 1981 * '' Schizothorax nudiventris'' J. Yang, X. Y. Chen & J. X. Yang, 2009 * '' Schizothorax nukiangensis'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax oconnori'' Lloyd, 1908 * '' Schizothorax oligolepis'' S. Y. Huang, 1985 * ''

Schizothorax parvus ''Schizothorax parvus'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus '' Schizothorax'' from Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a popul ...

'' W. H. Tsao, 1964 * '' Schizothorax pelzami''

, 1870 (Transcaspian marinka) * '' Schizothorax plagiostomus'' Heckel, 1838 * '' Schizothorax prenanti'' ( T. L. Tchang, 1930) * '' Schizothorax progastus'' (

, 1839) (Dinnawah snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax prophylax'' Pietschmann, 1933 (Eğirdir marinka) * ''

Schizothorax pseudoaksaiensis The Ili marinka (''Schizothorax pseudoaksaiensis'') is a species of ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray- ...

'' Herzenstein, 1889 (Ili marinka) * '' Schizothorax ramzani'' ( Javed, Ullah & Pervaiz, 2012)Javed, M.N., Azizullah & Pervaiz, K. (2012)
''Racoma ramzani'', A New Snow Carp (Teleostei: Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae) From Pakistan.
''Biologia (Pakistan), 58 (1-2): 175-178.'' * '' Schizothorax raraensis'' Terashima, 1984 (Rara snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax richardsonii'' (

J. E. Gray John Edward Gray, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoology, zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ...

, 1832) (Common snowtrout) * '' Schizothorax rotundimaxillaris'' Y. F. Wu & C. Z. Wu, 1992 * †'' Schizothorax saltans''

, 1905 * '' Schizothorax sinensis'' Herzenstein, 1889 * '' Schizothorax skarduensis''

Mirza Mirza may refer to: * Mirza, Kamrup, town in Assam, India * Mirza (name), historical royal title & noble * ''Mirza'', the genus of giant mouse lemur * "Mirza", song by Nino Ferrer * ''Mirza – The Untold Story'', Punjabi action romance film wri ...

& A. A. Awan, 1978 * '' Schizothorax waltoni''

, 1905 * '' Schizothorax wangchiachii'' ( P. W. Fang, 1936) * '' Schizothorax yunnanensis''

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

, 1923 * ''

Schizothorax zarudnyi ''Schizothorax zarudnyi'' is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish from Iran and Afghanistan, where restricted to lakes in the Sistan Basin.Coad, B.; and J. Hales (2008)Helmand - Sistan.Freshwater Ecoregions of the World. Retrieved 18 May 2019. ...

'' ( A. M. Nikolskii, 1897)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q310753 Cyprinidae genera Cyprinid fish of Asia