A new species of rasborine fish closely related (and very similar) to the Eyespot rasbora (Brevibora dorsiocellata) has been described from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Ichthyologists Te-Yu Liao and Heok Hui Tan name the new species Brevibora cheeya, distinguishing it from B. dorsiocellata (pictured above) by its complete (vs. incomplete) lateral line (with 25–30 vs. 4–9 perforated scales), more scales along the lateral row (29-32 vs. 25-27), larger size (up to about 4 cm standard length vs. to about 2.5 cm standard length), and larger head and prepectoral length (head length 28.5–30.0% standard length vs. 24.4–27.9; prepectoral length 29.6–32.9% standard length vs. 25.8-28.8).
Brevibora was split off from Rasbora in a phylogenetic study of the genus Rasbora by Liao in 2010.
The type locality is a slow-flowing tannin-stained stream with low pH (4.5) and a substrate of sand and peat.
The specific epithet of the name alludes to its larger size: Cheeya and Beiya are two Chinese deities that hunt for ghosts, with the former being tall and the latter being short.
For more information, see the paper: Liao, T-Y and HH Tan (2011) Brevibora cheeya, a new species of cyprinid fish from Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 59, pp. 77–82.