Languedoc Minnow

description

Nuptial colouration Male. – Snout and top of head dark brown. Ablack bar on operculum reaching from top of head to branchiostegal rays. Cheeks white. Yellow spot between eye and mouth, a second one covering suboperculum and posterior part of operculum. Lips red. Z 1 brown to black, Z 2 pale-brown to golden. A blackish stripe along Z 3 fractioned in blotches in some individuals and at some places. Z 4 greyish, without green colouration, except rarely around pectoral fin. Z 5 blackish. Pectoral fin bases usually yellowish-orange or red with a red disc at inners side (Fig. 7 A, C). Female. – No or an indistinct yellow spot on operculum. Z 1 brownish. Z 2 pale-brown. Stripe black along Z 3. Z 4 silvery white and Z 5 black. (Fig. 7 B, D). Molecular characterization On the COI marker, P. septimaniae has 10 diagnostic sites, including three synapomorphies (Tab. II). For the 12 S rDNA marker, three diagnostic sites characterise this species: A (vs. G) in position 304, T (vs. Aor G) in position 390 and T (vs. C) in position 394.

Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)

diagnosis

Diagnosis Phoxinus septimaniae is distinguished from the other French Phoxinus species by its unique nuptial colour pattern. The male has a blackish stripe along Z 3 sometimes fractioned in blotches (vs. green stripe or black / green bars), Z 4 greyish (vs. greenish or yellowish), pectoral fin bases yellow-orange with a red disc on the inner side (vs. yellow or orange without disc), a yellow spot between the eye and the mouth (vs. absence) (Fig. 7 A, C). In the nuptial female, the Z 4 is white (vs. greyish, yellowish or greenish) (Fig. 7 B, D). Phoxinus septimaniae is further distinguished from P. bigerri by having 75 - 94 scales along the lateral series (vs. 68 - 87), a slightly pointed snout (vs. very stout), a subterminal mouth (vs. terminal or slightly subterminal), a straight to slightly concave anal fin margin (vs. straight to convex), a deep caudal peduncle (caudal peduncle depth 2.7 - 4.6 times in its length vs. 2.1 - 3.4), and some populations have continuous breast scale patches across the breast (vs. separated or rarely connected anteriorly by 1 - 2 rows of scales). Phoxinus septimaniae is further distinguished from P. csikii by having a slightly pointed snout (vs. very

Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)

discussion

Remarks Phoxinus septimaniae was originally diagnosed having a continuous patch of breast scales (Kottelat, 2007). The specimens examined by Kottelat (2007) originate from the Tech River, the stream Lez, the Gardon (Rhône drainage), the River Hérault and the stream Vidourle. We examined materials from all these populations and identified these morpho- logically as P. septimaniae according to Kottelat (2007). However in our analysis, these “ scaled breast ” minnows form a paraphyletic group within the Mediterranean clade which includes also fish having two separated scaled patches on the breast from the Rhône drainage and some Mediter- ranean rivers as the Vidourle and the Buège (Fig. 3 B). While the “ scaled breast ” minnows have very different haplotypes, each of these haplotypes is present in other minnows from Mediterranean catchments (stream Lez, Aude catchment) and in the Rhône drainage without the connection between the patches of breast scales. Kottelat (2007) had observed that some specimens from the Vidourle and the Aude catchment had two separate patches of breast scales and hypothesized the existence of introgressions with P. phoxinus. This hypothesis is plausible as the

Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)

distribution

Distribution Phoxinus septimaniae occurs in all the Rhône drainage as well as the French coastal Mediterranean catchments (Fig. 1) until northeastern Spain (Palandačić et al., 2017; Corral-Lou et al., 2019). It was introduced in the Roya, the Rhine catch- ments as well as in the Geneva (France / Switzerland) and the Ceresole (Italy) Lakes (Kottelat, 2007; Palandačić et al., 2017).

Revision of Phoxinus in France with the description of two new species (Teleostei, Leuciscidae)