Table 2. Morphological character comparisons between populations of Triplophysa stenura.

	Gongshan,Yunnan	Anduoqu, Tibet	Shigu, Yunnan	Batang, Sichuan
SL (mm)	69.3-78.4	72.5-92.7	61.9-86.6	48.6-113.7
Body type	medium, cylindrical	medium, slim	medium, slim	robust, cylindrical
Ground color	brownish yellow (ethanol)	pale grey (ethanol)	pale grey (ethanol)	light yellow (ethanol)
Mouth	thick with strong furrow	medium thick with slight furrow	medium thick with slight furrow	thick with strong furrow
Lower jaw	spade-like	spade-like	spoon-like	spade-like and spoon-like
Snout	blunt	pointed	pointed	blunt
Color pattern	6-8 blotches along dorsal midline	6-8 blotches along dorsal midline	colors mottled, no regular blotches along dorsal midline	6-10 blotches along dorsal midline
Dorsal fin origin	opposite to pelvic-fin origin	opposite to pelvic-fin origin	slightly posterior to pelvic-fin origin	slightly anterior to pelvic-fin origin
Intestine type	one coil	three coils	two coils	two coils
Caudal fin	slight concave	slight concave	deep concave	slight concave
Caudal peduncle	round	round	round	round
The tip of pelvic fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus and reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin

	Baiyu, Sichuan	Tuotuohe, Qinghai	Changdu, Tibet	Yangbi, Yunnan
SL (mm)	106.5-141.2	57.5-78.1	91.4-140.6	51.8-81.9
Body type	robust, cylindrical	medium, slim	slim, cylindrical	medium, cylindrical
Ground color	light yellow (ethanol)	pale grey (ethanol)	light yellow (ethanol)	brownish yellow (formalin)
Mouth	thick with strong furrow	medium thick with slight furrow	medium thick with slight furrow	thick with strong furrow
Lower jaw	spade-like and spoon-like	spade-like	spade-like	spoon-like
Snout	blunt	pointed	blunt	blunt
Color pattern	6-8 blotches along dorsal midline	6-8 blotches along dorsal midline	colors mottled, no regular blotches along dorsal midline	6-8 blotches along dorsal midline
Dorsal fin origin	slightly posterior to pelvic-fin origin	slightly posterior to pelvic-fin origin	slightly posterior to pelvic-fin origin	slightly anterior to pelvic-fin origin
Intestine type	three coils	three coils	two coils	one coil
Caudal fin	slight concave	slight concave	slight concave	slight concave
Caudal peduncle	round	round	round	slightly depressed
The tip of pelvic fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus and reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin	extending beyond anus but not reaching the origin of anal fin