XK (34006 O-\ ) 
Bull. nat. Hist. Mus. Lond. (Zool.) 67(2): 183-189 
— 
Issued 29 November 2001 

A new species of loach, genus Nemacheilus 
(Osteichthyes, Balitoridae) from Aceh, 
Sumatra, Indonesia 

RENNY KURNIA HADIATY 
Division of Zoology, Research and Development Centre for Biology, The Indonesian Institute of Sciences 
(LIPI), Jin. Raya Jakarta-Bogor, Km. 46, Cibinong, Indonesia 
DARRELL J. SIEBERT 
Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, U.K. SW7 5BD 

SYNOPSIS. 

A new species of the balitorid genus Nemacheilus is described from Aceh, Sumatra. The new species is 
distinguished from other Nemacheilus species by the combination of a colour pattern of dorsal saddles and lateral blotches but 
without a dark spot at the anterior base of the dorsal fin and the presence a row of enlarged, elongate, posteriorly directed, tear- 
drop shaped scales on either side of the lateral line scale row on the anterior part of the caudal peduncle, each of which bears a 
comparatively large, retrorse, apical tubercle. 
INTRODUCTION 
Little has been reported about fishes inhabiting inland waters of 
Aceh, Sumatra (Kreemer, 1922 (fide Wirjoatmodjo, 1987); Fowler, 
1940; Wirjoatmodjo, 1987; Hadiaty and Siebert, 1998). A small 
collection of fishes was made from Sungai Lembang, Gunung 
Leuser National Park-Aceh Selatan during August-September 1997, 
as part of an ecosystem mapping project from the Research and 
Development Centre for Biology, Bogor. Gunung Leuser National 
Park, established in 1980, comprises 792,675 hectares of prime 
habitat. It, and an associated management area, include coastal 
lowlands, uplands, and montane habitats. The area is home to tiger, 
elephant, rhinoceros, orangutan and spectacular plants such as 
Rafflesia atjehensis and Amorphophalus sp. The fish collection 
contains several distinctive fishes, of which two species of 
Osteochilus were described earlier (Hadiaty & Siebert, 1998). The 
collection also contains a new species of the baltorid sub-family 
Nemacheilinae that has enlarged and elongate scales bordering the 
lateral line in anterior half of the caudal peduncle, each of which 
bears a large, retrorse tubercle near its posterior tip. 
The Indonesian and Malaysian nemacheiline loaches were last 
revised by Kottelat (1984), who recognised nine species in the region 
but noted that several nominal taxa, especially some from Sumatra, 
could not be critically evaluated because of the lack of sufficient 
material. Since then Chin and Samat (1992) have described N. 
elegantissimus from Sabah, Malaysia and Kottelat et al. (1993) have 
recognised as valid two of the species, N. pfeifferae and N. longipinnis, 
that Kottelat could not evaluate earlier. The number of valid species 
recognised species in the region now stands at 12. Two of the species 
in the area, N. selangoricus and N. spiniferus, have acuminate scales, 
each of which bears a large tubercle, along the lateral line on the caudal 
peduncle. One, N. selangoricus, is widely distributed, occurring in 
Sumatra, Malaysia, and Borneo, while the other, NV. spiniferus, is 
known only from Borneo (Kottelat et al., 1993). 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
Methods for counts and measurements follow Kottelat (1984). The 
© The Natural History Museum, 2001 
specimens of the new species were collected by electrofishing and 
are deposited at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB), Re- 
search and Development Centre for Biology, Cibinong, Java, 
Indonesia and The Natural History Museum (BMNH), London. The 
egg count was done by direct enumeration. Illustrations of scales 
and mouthparts were rendered from camera lucida tracings. Statisti- 
cal testing of differences in the shape of caudal peduncle scales 
between males and females of the new species and between the new 
species and N. chrysolaimos are based on measurements of camera 
lucida tracing of individual scales made under compound microscopy. 
The abbreviation ZMA is for Zoologisch Museum, Amsterdam. 
Peter Bartsch, Museum fuer Natkurkunde der Humboldt-Universitaet 
zu Berlin, examined the holotypes of N. dunckeri (ZMB 20546) and 
N. longipinnis (ZMB 20547) for us; he also provided a translation of 
Ahl’s (1922) description of the colour pattern of each species. 
SYSTEMATICS 
Nemacheilus tuberigum sp.nov. 
(Figs. 1-5; Tables 1, 2) 
Holotype, MZB 9356 (48.5 mm SL, 59.2 mm TL); Indonesia, 
Sumatra, Aceh Selatan, Kecamatan Kluet Selatan, Desa Pucuk 
Lembang, Gunung Leuser National Park, caught in a clear forest 
stream tributary to Sungai Lembang; R.K. Hadiaty and A. Mun’im, 
2 September 1997. 
Allotype, MZB 10565 (43.0 mm SL); same data as holotype. 
Paratypes, MZB 9357, 12 ex., (39.6-53.2 mm SL); same data as 
holotype. BMNH 2000.4.10.1—5, 5 ex., (42.2-50.5 mm SL); same 
data as holotype. MZB 9358, 4 ex., (44.8-53.4 mm SL); same 
location as holotype; R.K. Hadiaty and A. Mun’im, 31 August 1997. 
MZB 9359, 1 ex., (42.6 mm SL); same location as holotype; R.K. 
Hadiaty and A. Mun’im;1 September 1997. MZB 9360, 4 ex., 
(42.6—49.2 mm SL) Indonesia, Sumatra, Aceh Selatan, Desa Pucuk 
Lembang, Alur Betung, a tributary of S. Lembang; R.K. Hadiaty and 
A. Mun’im; 2 September 1997. MZB 9361, 2 ex., (31.9 and 37.2 mm 
SL); Indonesia, Sumatra, Aceh Selatan, Suag Balimbing Research 
