Phoxinus colchicus

Phoxinus colchicus has 3 spines and 9 soft rays, althouygh the last spine is only half the length of the others, in both its dorsal and anal fins. The maximum standard length for this fish is 8.2 cm (3.2 in).

Phoxinus colchicus is found in the southern tributaries of the Kuban River in southern Russia and Georgia, as well as in northeastern Turkey in the Hopa River. It has a wide habitat preference, but does prefer cooler, well oxygenated water, ranging from small streams with swift currents up to large rivers.

Phoxinus colchicus 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, colchicus, means "belonging to Colchis", the historic name for the Black Sea coastal region of Georgia.