%0 Journal Article %A Yongxia Chen %A Dekui He %A Hao Chen %A Yifeng Chen %T Taxonomic study of the genus Niwaella (Cypriniformes: Cobitidae) from East China, with description of four new species %D 2017 %R 10.11865/zs.201723 %J Zoological Systematics %P 490-507 %V 42 %N 4 %X Four loaches, Niwaella brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov., are described based on specimens collected from Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces, East China. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 28 individuals of seven species from seven locations collected from Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces were amplified and analyzed. Morphological and molecular data showed that N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. laterimaculata (Yan & Zheng), N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. longibarba Chen & Chen are closely related. The seven Chinese Niwaella species, N. brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. laterimaculata, N. longibarba, N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov., and N. xinjiangensis are clearly distinguished by the combination of the color patter, mental lobes, suborbital spine, caudal peduncle, body shape, and subdorsal scales. %U https://www.zootax.com.cn/EN/10.11865/zs.201723