The Labeoninae is a subfamily of the family Cyprinidae, Order Cypriniformes. Except the typical common characters exhibited by the Cyprinidae, Labeoninae achieves the maximal diversity in lips and other structures around mouth among the Cyprinidae fishes. The phylogeny of the subfamily Labeoninae has remained as a controversial topic in years due to the insufficient samples. The early and recent results of morphological phylogeny research were inconsistent to each other and some molecular analyses have led to contradictory against morphological phylogeny. In the taxonomic history, some genera were described in the recent years and they have never been referred in the phylogenetic studies.

This work was undertaken by the group of systematic evolution and biogeography under the guide of Professor Yang Jun-Xing. The results of this study verified the monophyly of Labeoninae and confirmed that the presence of disc is the consequence of convergent evolution. Furthermore, the results put forward the new subdivision within Labeoninae and clarified the validity and taxonomy of several genera. This study demonstrated the major pattern within Labeoninae and enlightened the morphological taxonomy and phylogeny. This study has been published in the Zoologica Scripta2010 (6).