Life habits and morphological characteristics of red-eye angle fish

Epalzeorhynchus bicornis belongs to the order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae, subfamily Epalzeorhynchus, and genus Epalzeorhynchus. Commonly known as: red-eyed fish. English name: Bihorned barb.

Endangerment level: Endangered.

The body is slender, the front end is nearly cylindrical, and the rear end is flat laterally. The head is small. The snout is round and blunt, with a small movable triangular lateral leaf on each side. The snout expands ventrally, covering the upper jaw, and the edge is tassel-shaped. The mouth is in the lower position; the upper lip disappears; the lower lip is separated from the mandible, and there is a transverse band on the ventral surface of the front edge, covered by small papillae. Both jaws have thin horny edges. There are 2 pairs of barbels; the rostrum barbels are located at the beginning of the rostral groove and are longer than the radius of the eyes; the mouth barbels are quite small and hidden in the corners of the mouth. There are small white particles around the nostrils, varying in density. There are 36-38 lateral line scales. The back and sides of the body are blue-grey with moire spots, and the abdomen is gray-white. The upper part of the dorsal fin and the middle part of the anal fin are gray and black; the lower edge of the caudal fin is black and the rest is light gray. The eyes are red.

Mainly inhabits the lower layers of clear water rivers with rocky bottoms. Scratching raw algae. The body is small, with body length generally 100-150 mm.

The genus Hornfish is a genus endemic to the Oriental region, with several species in total, with Indochina as the center of distribution, extending southward to Sumatra and westward to India. This species is only found in Lushui County and Baoshan County, Yunnan Province (belonging to the Nujiang River system) in China, and is an occasional species; it may also be found in the Salween River in Myanmar, downstream of the Nujiang River.

The habitat area of hornfish is often the main fishing area along the river. Inadvertent killing during unrestricted fishing is the main factor that endangers this species.

animal tags： Hornfish Cypriniformes Cyprinidae Locustinae