Gyrodactylus rivularae n. sp. (Monogenoiea: Gyrodactylidae) is described from the fins and body surface of the Chinese false gudgeon, Abbottina rivularis (Basilewsky, 1855) (Pisces: Cyprinidae), in cold-water streams of the Qinling Mountains, central China. The new species morphologically resembles Gyrodactylus gobioninum Gusev, 1955, another species infecting A. rivularis, and Gyrodactylus gobii Shulman, 1953, infecting Gobio albipinnatus Lukasch, 1933, but is distinguished by longer hamuli. Sequence data (874 base pairs ) of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) spanning the ITS-1, 5.8S and ITS-2 regions is unique within GenBank. A BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) search identified species of Fundulotrema to have the highest overall similarity of 95–99%, followed by Gyrodactylus alexanderi Mizelle and Kritsky, 1967, and Gyrodactylus lotae Gusev, 1953, suggesting these species are all part of a clade within Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832 sensu lato.