Botia zebra
was first described by Wu (1939) but changed to
Leptobotia zebra
by Chen (1980) based on the presence of the simple suborbital spine. In the present study, sequences of mtDNA cytochrome
b gene were analyzed to investigate the systematic position of this species. The molecular data showed that the average genetic distance between samples of
Leptobotia zebra and other
Leptobotia species was 0.177, while only 0.057 between
Leptobotia zebra and
Sinibotia pulcher
. Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that samples of
Leptobotia zebra did not cluster with
Leptobotia species, they grouped with
Sinibotia pulcher forming a sister-group. Further morphological observations were performed on the holotype of
Leptobotia zebra and other specimens including formalin-fixed museum specimens and newly collected alcohol-fixed ones. This species was found to bear similar diagnostic characteristics with
Sinibotia, such as no scales on the cheek, a pair of button-like papillae on the chin region, and the diagnostic characteristics of
Leptobotia as well, such as a simple suborbital spine. Based on both molecular and morphological data, this paper proposes that
Leptobotia zebra is a species of the genus
Sinibotia, and its valid name should be
Sinibotia zebra. Morphological character evolution of genera in the family Botiidae was also discussed.
