Sinobdella

Sinobdella
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Synbranchiformes
Family: Mastacembelidae
Genus: Sinobdella
Kottelat & Lim, 1994
Type species
Rhynchobdella sinensis
Bleeker, 1870

Sinobdella is a genus of eel-like freshwater fishes in the family Mastacembelidae, commonly known as spiny eels. They are found in freshwater river systems and lakes throughout southern and eastern China and northern Vietnam; there is also a presumably extinct species that used to be found in Taiwan.[1]

Taxonomy

Sinobdella is placed in Mastacembelidae alongside Macrognathus and Mastacembelus. It has historically been considered monotypic, containing only S. sinensis. Recently, however, a few new species have been described and assigned to this genus (such as S. longitubulus in 2024)[1], and a few existing species have been moved to the genus from elsewhere.

Species

As of 2025, there are 6 recognized species in this genus, one of which is presumably extinct:[2]

  • Sinobdella anguillaris (Mori, 1928)
  • Sinobdella dienbienensis Nguyễn & Nguyễn, 2006
  • Sinobdella kobayashii (Ōshima, 1926)
  • Sinobdella longitubulus Shan & Zhang, 2024
  • Sinobdella magnificus Endruweit, 2024
  • Sinobdella sinensis (Bleeker, 1870)

References

  1. ^ a b Shan, Peng; Li, Guangyu; Zhang, E. (19 June 2024). "Sinobdella longitubulus, a new species of spiny eel (Pisces, Mastacembelidae) from the Zhu-Jiang Basin, with a note on the type locality of S. sinensis (Bleeker, 1870)". Biodiversity Data Journal. 12 e123990. doi:10.3897/BDJ.12.e123990. PMC 11208772. PMID 38939162.
  2. ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Sinobdella". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 November 2025.