A cave-dwelling loach,
Oreonectes luochengensis
sp. nov. has been described based on collections from a cave in Tianhe town, Luocheng, Guangxi, China in September 2008. It can be distinguished from all known
Oreonectes species by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays 3, 7; anal-fin rays 2, 5; pectoral-fin rays 1, 11-12; pelvic-fin rays 1, 7 and 14-16 branched caudal-fin rays; head compressed; eyes present; surface of lower lip covered with shallow longitudinal groove; dorsal-fin origin posterior to vertical line of pelvic-fin origin; caudal peduncle without caudal-adipose keels; edge of caudal fin truncation; tiny scales present under skin; no cephalic lateral-line system; body pink in living status, without pigments in adult, after fixed in formalin, body yellowish, non-transparent, no markings on body side.
