Adour Minnow
Phoxinus bigerri Kottelat, 2007
Also calledEzkailua (eus) · Piscardo (spa) · Pyreneeënelrits (nld) · Vairon basque (fra) · Vairon basque, Vairon de l'Adour (fra) · pyreneidenmutu (fin) · sanguinerola dei Pirenei (ita) · střevle Bigerrova (ces) · Пиринейский гольян (rus)
First described in: Kottelat, M. (2007). Three new species of Phoxinus from Greece and southern France (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). <em>Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat.</em> 18(2):145-162.
Phoxinus bigerri, the Adour minnow or Pyrenean minnow, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes. This fish is endemic to southwestern Europe.
Descriptions from checklists and floras indexed by GBIF
description
Nuptial colouration Male. – Snout and top of head dark greyish to black. A black bar on operculum reaching from top of head to suboperculum. Cheeks white or greyish. Operculum with a white spot at uppermost, posterior corner followed by a yellow spot on lower part. Z 1 black. Flank with black bars of variable widths. Z 2 to Z 4 golden-yellow. Z 5 and belly greyish to black. Mouth pinkish. Pectoral, pelvic and anal fin orange (Fig. 4 A, C). Female. – Black flank bars reaching from Z 2 to Z 4, inter- spaces greyish, and pectoral, pelvic and anal fin bases red (Fig. 4 B, D). Molecular characterization On the COI marker, P. bigerri has nine diagnostic sites, including seven synapomorphies (Tab. III). For the 12 S rDNA marker, seven diagnostic sites characterise this species: G (vs. A) in position 25, T (vs. G) in position 403, C (vs. A) in position 577, G (vs. A) in position 596, T (vs. C) in position 881, T (vs. C) in position 882 and C (vs. T) in position 889.
Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)
diagnosis
Diagnosis Phoxinus bigerri is distinguished from the other French Phoxinus species by its unique nuptial colour pattern. The male is diagnosed by having bold, black bars of variable widths crossing Z 2 to Z 4 (vs. bars only crossing Z 2), no stripe on Z 3 (vs. present), Z 2 to Z 4 golden-yellow between bars (vs. pale brownish), Z 5 and belly greyish to black (vs. Z 5 silvery, white or red on belly), orange pectoral, pelvic and anal fins (Fig. 4 A, C) (vs. yellow). Female with long black bars on the flank (vs. a black or brown stripe along Z 3), interspaces between flank-bars greyish along Z 2 to Z 4 (vs. silvery, greenish or yellowish), and pectoral, pelvic and anal fin bases red (Fig. 4 B, D) (vs. pinkish). Phoxinus biggeri is further distinguished from some other species as detailed below by having 68 - 87 scales along the lateral series (vs. 72 - 99), snout very stout (vs. slightly pointed), mouth terminal or slightly subterminal (vs. subterminal), analfinmarginstraighttoconvex (vs. straight to slightly concave), and depth of caudal peduncle 2.1 - 3.4 times in its length (vs. 2.5 - 4.6).
Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)
discussion
Remarks Kottelat (2007) described this species as having usually a complete lateral line. Our examination confirms that some individuals have a com- plete lateral line but most individuals examined by us, have an incomplete lateral line, reaching just to or slightly beyond the anal fin base.
Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)
distribution
Distribution In France, P. bigerri is native to the Adour and the Leyre drainages (Fig. 1). It is introduced in the Aude catchment as well as some tributaries of the Garonne drainage adjacent to the Adour by anglers as trout bait. In Spain, it is native to the Ebro drainage and the eastern Cantabria region, and was introduced in Galicia and the Duero drainages (Corral-Lou et al., 2019; Garcia-Raventós et al., 2020).
Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Phoxinus bigerri is identified from other European members of the genus Phoxinus by the origin of the anal fin being placed below or to the rear of the last dorsal fin ray. In adults, the anal fin is almost equal in length to the caudal peduncle, and it has a straight to convex margin. The dorsal profile of the head is nearly horizontal over the eye, then sharply descends near the tip of the snout. The breast has patches of scales which are surrounded by scale-less regions, or they may be joined at the anterior end by one or two rows of scales. The lateral line typically extends to near the end of the caudal peduncle. In the largest specimens there is a clear hump on the nape. The maximum standard length of this fish is 6.6 cm (2.6 in).
Range & habitat
Phoxinus bigerri is found in southwestern Europe in rivers which drain into the Bay of Biscay. The western limit of its range is in the Esva River in Asturias in Spain, east into France, where it is nataive to the drainage systems of the Eyre and Adour river systems, and in the upper drainage of the Ebro. It has been introduced to Galicia in the Duero and Da Chanca rivers, and to the Aude in France. The Pyrenean minnow prefers relatively shallow shorelines, pools and smoother stretches of rivers with well-oxygenated, clear water, and which have a slow to moderate current.
In human culture
Phoxinus bigerri belongs to the genus Phoxinus. This name is derived from the Greek phoxinos, meaning "small fishes". In 1553, Pierre Belon used it to refer to the fishes known as minnows in English, and Carl Linnaeus used it as the specific name of a fish in 1758, which Constantine Samuel Rafinesque applied tautologically to the genus of minnows in 1820, its only species being Phoxinus phoxinus. The specific name, bigerri, refers to the Bigerri, a Gaulish people who lived in the Adour Valley.
In the stacks
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Every page naming Phoxinus bigerri in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 5207399.