Aphyocypris lini, the garnet minnow or Venus minnow, is a

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 ...

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 ver ...

endemic to China. It was first collected from Hong Kong by A.W. Herre in 1936. The introduction of mosquitofish (''Gambusia affinis'') and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

caused the extirpation of this species from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and the species was considered to be extinct in the wild. However, a similar species '' Aphyocypris pulchrilineata'' was discovered in Guangxi in southern China, but this species lacks the dark spot on the base of the caudal fin. Named in honor of Chinese ichthyologist

Lin Shu-Yen Lin or LIN may refer to: People *Lin (surname) (normally ), a Chinese surname *Lin (surname) (normally 蔺), a Chinese surname * Lin (''The King of Fighters''), Chinese assassin character *Lin Chow Bang, character in Fat Pizza Places *Lin, Iran, ...

(1903-1974).

Description

''Aphyocypris lini'' is a small fish which has a yellowish-brown body with a bluish back and a white underside which are separated by a series of parallel stripes with the middle stripe being reddish-yellow, a bluish black stripe above and an iridescent green line below it. There is a large blue spot, edged with gold at the base of the

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

while the fins are white. It has pelvic scutes which run from the base of the pelvic fin to the anus. There is no lateral line but there are 30–32 scales along lateral axis. Adults grow to 50 mm total length. It has three spines and seven soft rays in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

with three spines and eight soft rayes in the anal fin.

Distribution

This species is endemic to southern China and it was first recorded in Fanling in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

of Hong Kong in 1939, and was found in the

Tai Mo Shan Tai Mo Shan is the highest peak in Hong Kong, with an elevation of . It is located at approximately the geographical centre of the New Territories. The Tai Mo Shan Country Park covers an area of around Tai Mo Shan. It is located to the n ...

area in 1992, but since then there have been no records in the wild.

Habitat

''Aphyocypris lini'' is a benthopelagic fish species which lives ditches and rivers where there is clear, shallow water with dense aquatic vegetation. Spawning occurs in open water with sandy and gravel substrates.

Conservation

The decline In the wild populations of ''Aphyocypris lini'' is thought to be due to habitat destruction by human development such as the construction of hydroelectric projects, water pollution and deforestation. They were possibly also affected by competition from introduced fish species such as the mosquitofish. The only currently known population of the garnet minnow are in captive breeding facilities in Hong Kong, Macau and some other southeastern Asia countries where they are bred for export in the aquarium trade. It is possible that the species could be reintroduced to the wild using captive bred fish after habitat restoration and the removal of invasive alien competitors.

Sources

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3760614 Cyprinid fish of Asia Freshwater fish of China Taxa named by Stanley Howard Weitzman Taxa named by Chan Lai-Lee Fish described in 1966