A new species of the genus Balitora (Teleostei: Balitoridae) from Guangxi, China

A new species of the hillstream loach genus Balitora Gray, Balitora ludongensis, from Qilong River which drains to Zuojiang River (a headwater of the Pearl River) drainage, Jingxi County, Guangxi, China. It can be distinguished from its congeners by the following characters: pectoral fin with vi–vii, 11–12 rays; pelvic fin with ii, 6–7 rays; pre-oral groove relatively shallow, upper lip without or with 3–5 fold-like papillae in a row on its middle surface and gradually smooth to the corner of mouth; two maxillary barbels at each corner of mouth, the outer one slightly longer than the inner one, 149.0–190.9% of eye diameter; eyes small, eye diameter 14.2–18.1% of head length; Dorsal-fin origin slightly anterior to pelvic-fin origin; Caudal-peduncle depth 39.1–55.0% of its length; upper lobe of caudal fin longer than the lower one; lateral-line scales 69–74; with 6–9 black blotches on the dorsal side of body.