''Salmo ohridanus'', also known by the local name as the ''belvica'' in North Macedonia or ''belushka'' in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, is a species of freshwater

salmonid Salmonidae (, ) is a family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon (both Atlantic a ...

fish,

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. ''Salmo ohridanus'' is a relatively small fish, usually shorter than and less than weight. It is a commercially exploited species subject to heavy fishing, and has been bred in fish farms for over 50 years. It has also been intentionally hybridized with another endemic species, the

Ohrid trout Ohrid trout or the Lake Ohrid brown trout (''Salmo letnica'') is an endemic species of trout in Lake Ohrid and in its tributaries and outlet, the Black Drin river, in North Macedonia and Albania. Locally, the fish is known as охридска п� ...

(''

Salmo letnica Ohrid trout or the Lake Ohrid brown trout (''Salmo letnica'') is an endemic species of trout in Lake Ohrid and in its tributaries and outlet, the Black Drin river, in North Macedonia and Albania. Locally, the fish is known as охридска п� ...

''). It is threatened by the hybridization, degradation of water quality and

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

; but the stock remains abundant. In earlier literature the belvica has variously been treated as belonging to suggested endemic genera ''Acantholingua'' and ''

Salmothymus ''Salmothymus'' is a genus name of fish in the family Salmonidae, established for the Adriatic trout (''Salmothymus obrusirostris''). More commonly, however, the species is considered a member of the wider genus ''Salmo'', i.e. ''Salmo obtusiros ...

''. Genetic studies however indicate it is a good member of the genus ''

Salmo ''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Salmoninae of family (biology), family Salmonidae, and is part of the tribe (biology), tribe Salmonini along with the sister genera ''Salvelinus'' and ''Salvethymus''. Almost all ''Salmo ...

'', and closest to the

softmouth trout ''Salmo obtusirostris'', commonly known as the softmouth trout, also known as the Adriatic trout, or Adriatic salmon, is a species of salmonid fish endemic to a handful rivers spilling into Adriatic in the Western Balkans, in southeastern Europe, ...

''Salmo obtusirostris''. Nevertheless, it is quite distinct from the

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

complex.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134339 ohridanus Freshwater fish of Europe Fish described in 1892 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot