Publication of a Translation of and the Previously Unpublished Illustrations for a Little-known Work Describing New Taxa of Cyprinid Fishes from Northern Vietnam by Nguyen and Doan, 1969

2007·0.09 MB·English

by  Roberts, Tyson R

Commentary
NAT. HIST. BULL. SIAM Soc. 55(1): 55-58，2 007
PUBLICATION OFA T RANSLATION OFA NDT HEP REVIOUSLY
UNPUBLISHED ILLUSTRATIONS FORA L ITTLE-KNOWN
WORKD ESCRIBING NEWT AXAO FC YP阻 NIDFISHES FROM
，
NORTHERNV IETNAMB YN GUYENA NDD OAN1969
乃sonR. Roberts
ABSTRACT
In 1969 apa per wぉ presentedat am ee山gin Hanoi wi由anac∞unt of the fish family
Cyprinidae in白eRed River basin of northem Vietnam. Thete xt w飴 distributedduring the
meeting without reproductions of the drawings of白etwo new genera and seventeen new
species level蹴 adescribed in the paper. Subsequent attempt山 identi今出etaxa，ba sed upon
the very brief and in some ways inadequate written accounts，h ave not been entirely
satisfactory.τ'heor iginal drawings，su pposedly lost，ha ve been kept in白eResearch In副知te
for Aquaculture No. 1in Hubac，H 佃 oi(阻AH).W抽出e.figures in hand the s戸cimens叩on
which most of them were based have been located in the RIAH fish collection. Consequently
more accurate identification of the species level taxa is possible. Most of them evidently
紅E
valid. At ranslation of the original paper from Vietnamese into English，re production of all but
two or the original figures，a nd apa rtial evaluation of their current status are provided in the
following three articles in this issue of the Natural History Bulletin.
Key words: Cyprinidae，Re d River basin，Vi etnam，ne w taxa，or iginal drawings，le ctoypes，
neotypes
HoC hi Minh died on 2S eptember 1969 in the middle of aw withthe United States.
紅
Despite the troubled times as cheduled scientific meeting was held in Hanoi before the end
of the month. At this meeting Nguyen Van Hao reported on the fishes of the family
Cyprinidae obtained during extensive surveys of the Red River basin，fo rmally presenting
descriptions of 2n ew genera，16 new species and 1n ew subspecies. Ah astily prepared and
poorly typewritten and mimeographed text in Vietnamese wi也thedescriptions and other
information (NGUYEN & DOAN，1 969) was distributed to each person present. No copies
were prep釘'edor distributed of the original illus回 tionsof the new taxa. The number of
persons who received the text is not recorded but they were not many. Thus was this
significant contribution to the ichthyology of the Red River basin nongthe first to be
，釘
done by Vietnamese，pu blished.
Noc opy of the original paper was available at the time of myf irst two visits to Hanoi
in 1992 and 1997. Only in 1998 was ac opy obtained白血lksto aV ietnamese colleague in
Saigon. Additional copies were made and given to Nguyen Van Hao，M ai DinY enh，an d
other Vietnamese colleagues. One of these copies was reproduced by KOTIELAT (2001).
Nowf or the frrst time the information in the original work by NGUYEN & DOAN，19 69
is made available in an English translation by Nguyen Van Canh. As surmised by FERRARIS
(2002: 1168)，th e last page，p. 19，w as missing from the copy reproduced by Kottelat. The
present translation into English includes the missing last page.τ'heo riginal illustrations，
heretofore unduplicated and unpublished 'epresented in ap aper by Nguyen Van Hao
，釘
(NGUYEN V. H.，2 007). This is followed by an article by me and David Catania in
55
56 TYSON R. ROBERTS
which lecttypes rn etypes are designated frt he new species (ROBERTS & CATANIA，
'O 'O 'O 'O
2007). Remarks 'On出ecurrent status 'Oft he taxa and 'Ont he bi'Ol'Ogy 'Ofs 'Ome 'Oft hem als'O
'eprvided.
紅 'O
Authrship fth e paper is given in the riginal text as Nguyen van [sic] Haand Dan
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
Le Ha. Accrding tthe frrst authr，he alne was almst entirely respnsible frt he
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
w'Ork. Thed ate 'Ofpu blicati'Oni s n'Otgi ven. S'Ometimes referred t'O by血efirst names 'Oft he
auth'Ors，as HAo & HOA，19 69，th e w'Ork sh'Ould be referred t'O as NOUYEN & DOAN，1 969
(KOTTELAT，20 01; FERRARIS，20 02).
The paper pr'Obably w'Ould have passed int'O 'Oblivi'Onw ith the names泊 itregarded as
unpublished f'Ort he pu甲'Oses'Ofs cientific n'Omenclature except白紙many'Of血etaxa were
rec'Ognized in ab 'O'Ok' On也ef詑shwaterfishes 'OfN 'Orth Vietnam by Mai Dinh Yen (MAI，
1978)，w h'O a町ibutedthem t'O HAO & HOA，19 69. Mai had ac 'Opy 'Of出etext but did n'Ot
see the specimens in the fish cllectin ft he Research Institute frA quaculture N 1 r
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O. 'O
the riginal figures kept by Nguyen Ha Sme ft he species were ntr epresented in
'O V.叩 'O. 'O 'O 'O
the c'Ollecti'Ons that he did s加dy.百lUShis identificati'Ons 'Oft he species were based 1紅gely
ng uesswrk and sme 'einc ect.
'O 'O 'O 釘 'O町
The subsequent hist'Ory 'Oft he w'Ork may be reviewed briefly. The 'Only publicati'Ons t'O
utilize it as the primybasis frs ystematic ichthylgy and treatment ft he species e
紅 'O 'O'O 'O 紅
MAI (1978) and KoπELAT (2001). The 'Original Vietnamese text 'Of出epaper (but n'O
translatin) is reprinted in the latter wrk. Like Mai，K ttelat tried tidentify the taxa
'O 'O 'O 'O
with'Out having seen the specimens 'Orf igures，a nd was n'Ota lways successful. K'Ottelat
treated the taxa menti'Oned by MAI (1978) as published，bu t was undecided whether they
shuld date frm 1969 r1 978. Recgnitin fthe 1969 wrk as published is supprted by
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
FERRA阻S(2002)，an d 1c 'Onc町'.Thee ffect 'Ofs uch rec'Ogniti'Onis t'O validate publicati'Onn 'Ot
'Only'Of白etaxa rec'Ognized by MAI (1978) but als'O 'Oft he additi'Onal species cited by
KOTTELAT (2001). Based 'Ont he latter w'Ork，al l 'Oft he taxa are included n'Ow in
Eschmeyer's“Catalg fF ishes nline versin，la st updated 19 June 2007). The
'O 'O ('O 'O
nmenclatural status in the Catalgf llws KOTTELAT (2001).
'O 'O 'O'O
The riginal descriptins ebrief and the figures ft he new fish taxa 'eessential t
'O 'O 釘 'O 釘 'O
identify血especies. Until1998 'Only由e'Original illus回ti'Onswe問 available.Th句 we詑 in
the pssessin fN guyen Haat RIAH rR IA N 1i n HuB ac，H i，and n cpies
'O 'O 'O V.叩 'O 'O 'O. 佃'O 'O 'O
had been made. Nguyen kindly br'Ought the figures f'Orm et 'O study，an d wi血hispen凶ssi'On
David Catania and 1m ade xer'Oxc 'Opies and ph'Ot'Ographic c'Opies 'Oft hem. Sets 'Of由e
cpies were given tNguyen Ha
'O 'O V.佃 'O.
The riginal figures are fp articular imprtance frt w additinal reasns. N
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
h'Ol'Otypes 'Or'O ther type specimens are indicated in NOUYEN & DOAN (1969). The
specimens described in this paper are part fa n extensive cllectin fb eautifully
'O 'O 'O 'O
preserved and carefully labeled fishes mthe Vietnamese p tft he Red River basin.
合'O 紅 'O
百lisc'Ollecti'On，ma de by Nguyen Van Ha'O and 'Other members 'Oft he Research Institute f'Or
Aquaculture N'O. 1a t Hu Bac，a s uburb 'OfH an'Oi，is maintained at曲atinstitute (hereafter
referred tas RIAH rR IA N 1( RIA Ns. 2a nd 3w ere funded later na nd are in Hue
'O 'O 'O. 'O 'O 'O
and Saign). This cllectinw as ntc atalgued，h wever，a nd thus the specimens in it
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
culd ntb e referred tby their catalgn umbers. Althugh n type specimens are
'O 'O 'O 'O 'O 'O
designated in the riginal paper，th e riginal figures include scale bars and smetimes ntes
'O 'O 'O 'O
'On血especimen drawn. With白e'Original figures and the inf'Ormati'On' Ont hem it was
p'Ossible t'O identify in出eRIA N'O. 1f ish c'Ollecti'Onm 'Ost 'Ofth e specimens actually figured.
PUBLICATION OF AT RANSLATION OF NGUYEN & DOAN (1969) 57
These specimens had labels with the names given to them in NGUYEN & DOAN (1969)，bu t
were not otherwise indicated as type specimens. The specimens were provided with RIAH
catalog numbers for the first time in 1998. Designation of these specimens as lectotypes for
the species named by NGUYEN & DOAN (1969) and the evidence or justification for their
type status is presented in ROBERTS & CATANIA (2007).
Another reason why the original figures of the new taxa proposed in NGUYEN & DOAN
(1969) are important is that they are superb illustrations，a mong the finest pen and ink
drawings ever made of Asian 合'eshwaterfishes. The species (ins ome instances，th e actual
specimens) represented by them are readi1yi dentifiable. This is seldom so with fish
illustrations but in this instance it is true. There were two illustrators and they signed most
of their work. One signed “L. S. Chang". The other signed with an emblem composed of
initials “DAU"，bu t the ful1 name of this person has not been recorded. One drawing has
the encircIed letter “C"，pr esumably standing for L. S. Chang. Two drawings eunsigned.
紅
From the original printed text it is known that there were 17 figures (numbered as
“hinh" [figure] 1-17). Al1 but two of the figures were avai1able at the time of my visit to
RIA No. 1i n 1998. In the fol1owing translation，th e figure numbers and their order in the
original text紅epreserved. Al1 of the available figures are reproduced. Those血atwere not
found，fo r Daniops nammuensis and E.ηthroculter pseudobrevicauda macrophthalmus，ar e
so indicated in the text (e.g.“Fig. 4[ not found]"
勺，ヲ)
The poorly-typed original version of NGUYEN & DOAN (1969) is ful1 of typographical
eors.Involved here are Vietnamese words as well as the names of foreign authors and all
町
of the scientific names of fish genera and species. Nearly every one of the scientific names
is spel1ed two or three different ways，of ten incongruously (pers. obs.; KoπELAT，2001;
FERRARIS，2 002). Fortunately this problem has been dealt with thoroughly and
satisfactorily by KOT四LAT(2001). As first reviser，he selected from the spellings used the
ones most appropriate for each species. The spellings selected by Kottelat are used
throughout the present English language translation (NGUYEN V. C.，20 07) and in ROBERTS
& CATANIA (2007).
The translation otherwise is faithful to the original，d own to the idiosyncratic and
sometimes inconsistent headings，pa ragraphing and lettering. Where there 'emistakes or
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gaps in the original，t hey are mostly retained，as is the original punctuation. This should
facilitate the task of Vietnamese readers should they wish to check the present translation
against the original Vietnamese version.
The original paper cites an umber of foreign and Vietnamese works on fishes in白e
body of the text but does not provide ab ibliography or list of references. Several of the
、
foreign works are obscurely cited，a nd three of the Vietnamese papers are otherwise
unknown to me. The latter papers 紅a∞renot pres関e則ntin Es民∞chmey釘er's
紅'enoωt mentioned by KOTπT四E乱LA:灯J'(2001) 町0rFERRA即S(σ200均2).Noa ttempt is made to supply
the missing bibliography here.
A few footnotes by me are included with the translation where they are deemed
essential. There are no footnotes in the original paper. Designation of neotypes，c urrent
nomenclatural status of the new taxa，a nd other remarks are reserved for the paper
fol1owing the translation and the figures.
58 TYSON R. ROBERTS
RE回RENCES
∞
FERRARlS，C. 1. 2 2. Review of Freshwater Fishes 01 Northern Vietnam. AP reliminary Checklist 01 the Fishes
Known or Expected to Occur in Northern Vietnam with Comments on Systematics and Nomenclature，
∞
byM. KOTI芭LAT.Copeia 212(4): 1168-1170.
KσITELAT，M . 2001. Freshwater Fishes 01 Northern Viemam. A Preliminary Checklist 01 the Fishes Known or
Expected to Occur in Northern Vietnam with Comments on砂'stematicsand Nomenclature. The World
Bank，Wa shington，D C，ii i+123+21 pp.，15 p1s.
MAl，D削HYEN. 1978. Dinh 10ai ca nuoc ngot; Cac tinh phia bac Vietnam [Identification of the企図hwaterfishes
of North Vietnam]. Na Xuat Ban Khoa Hoc Va KyT huat，H a Noi，34 0 pp.，48 p1s.
NGUYEN VA N HAO 2007. Figures of出enew taxa of cyprinid fishes described by Nguyen and Doan，1 969. Nat.
Hist. Bull. S加nSoc. 55 (1): 77-84.∞
NGUYENV州 HAO刷 DDOAN LE HOA. 2 7. Some data on the composition origin，an d distribution of cypririd
fish species泊 Norther目Vie佃創nwi白 descriptionsof new taxa. Transla飽dby Nguyen Van Canh. Nat.
Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 55 (1):59-76. Originally published as曲eReport of the Freshwater Fishes Studies
Branch，Ha noi in the First Scientific Seminar of the Fisheries Division，De mocratic Republic of Vietnam.
[1969] (in Vietnamese).
NOUYEN VAN HAo AND DOAN LE HOA. [1969]. Mot so dan lieu ve白創由ph組 nguongoc va phan bo cac loai
位。ngho ca chep 0m ien Bac Viet Nam. Bao cao旬iHoi nghi hoc thuat nganh Thuy san，la n 1，i+ 19 pp.
[For English位置nslationsee ∞p隠cedingarticle].
ROB配 rs，T. R.，A ND D. CATANIA. 2 7. Designation of lecωtypes and neotypes，sy stematic status，an d bio10gical
remarks on Red River Cyprinidae described by Nguyen加dDoan (1969). Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 55(1):
85-97.