The new record of the highest distribution altitude of cyprinid fishes in the world

摘要

Three specimens of Herzensteinia microcephalus (Cyprinidae: Schizothoracinae) were collected from the Chalaiburkun Chu, a headwater of Dri Chu of the southern tributaries of the Yangtze River. The sampling site is located at an altitude of 5,350 m above sea level in the North Slope of the Tanggula Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This is a new highest distribution record of cyprinids, perhaps of all fishes in the world. This new altitude record increases approximate 150 m in vertical height than that in previous studies, which would largely expand the distribution area of H. microcephalus and its habitats. The distribution uplift of H. microcephalus might be an ecological response to recent glacial retreats on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The data provide empirical evidence that climate change very likely has caused significant shifts in alpine fish distributions.