Tigris riffle minnow

biology_ecology

Habitat. Streams and rivers with fast-flowing water, usually with cobble and gravel substrate. Biology. No data.

Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia

diagnosis

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Alburnoides in Euphrates and Tigris drainages by: ○ horizontal eye diameter smaller than interorbital distance / ○ no pronounced chin / ○ tip of mouth cleft situated at a horizontal line with lower margin of pupil to lower margin of eye / ○ ventral keel usually partly to completely scaleless / ○ snout stout / ○ mouth terminal or subterminal / ○ 39 − 49 + 2 − 3, usually 40 − 46 + 2 − 3, lateral-line scales / ○ 9 − 12 ½, usually 11 − 12 ½, branched anal rays / ○ usually 8 ½ but frequently 7 ½ branched dorsal rays / ○ 6 – 10 gill rakers / ○ 37 − 40, usually 39, total vertebrae / ○ caudal lobes rounded / ○ anal with straight or convex outer margin. Size up to 90 mm SL.

Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia

discussion

Remarks. Alburnoides idignensis, A. namaki, and A. nicolausi are closely related, and future studies may not support them as independent species.

Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia

distribution

Distribution in the area. Endemic. Bid Sorkh River between Sahneh and Kandgavar in the Gav Masiab drainage, a headwater of the Karkheh in the Zagros Mountains.

A Critical Checklist of the Inland Fishes Native to the Euphrates and Tigris Drainages