''Alburnoides devolli'', the Devoll riffle minnow or Devoll spirlin, is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leuciscidae Leuciscidae is a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes, formerly classified as a subfamily of the Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows. Members of the Old World (OW) clade of minnows within this subfamily are known as European minnow ...

, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes This fish is found in southeastern Europe.

Taxonomy

''Alburnoides devolli'' was first formally described in 2010 by

Nina Gidalevna Bogutskaya Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms * National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No incom ...

Primož Zupančič Primož is a male given name, the South Slavic (primarily Slovenian) form of the Latin " Primus", meaning "first" or "best". Sequential birth-order numerical names were a Roman custom; a male firstborn might be named ''Primus'', a third-born terti ...

and

Alexander Mikhailovich Naseka Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

with its type locality given as the

Devoll River The Devoll (; sq-definite, Devolli) is a river in southern Albania. It is one of the source rivers of Seman. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . Its source is in the southwestern corner of the Devoll municipalit ...

by road SH3 near

Maliq Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite, Maliki), is a town and a municipality in Korçë County of eastern Albania. It is the smaller of two cities in the district, the other being Korçë, southeast of Maliq. The cu ...

Korçë District Korçë District (), was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 143,499 in 2001, and an area of . Its capital was the city of Korçë. Its territory is now part of ...

, Albania at around 40°42'N, 20°42'E. This species is closely related to the schneider (''

Alburnoides bipunctatus ''Alburnoides bipunctatus'', the schneider, spirlin, bleak, riffle minnow or bystranka, is a species of brackish and fresh water ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, the minnows and related fishes. This i ...

'') and all of the populations of schneider in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

south of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

were considered to belong to the

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

''A. bipunctatus ohridanus''. Later many of these were recognised as valid species based on morphological and molecular data and when Bogutskaya, Zupančič and Naseka studied specimens of ''A. bipinctatus'' ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' from the southern drainage of the

Seman River The Seman is a major river in western Albania. It is formed by the confluence of the rivers Devoll and Osum, a few km west of Kuçovë. It is long ( with its longest source river Devoll) and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is . I ...

they found two new valid species, ''A. devilli'' and '' A. fangfangae''. These species were distinguished by various morphological differences such as anal and dorsal fins, from other ''Alburnoides'' species that occur in

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greec ...

Lake Skadar Lake Skadar or Lake Scutari (, ; cnr-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, )also called Lake Shkodra (and ''Lake Shkodër'')lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern Europe. It is n ...

or the Danube River. The genus ''

Alburnoides ''Alburnoides'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae. The fishes in this genus are found in Europe and Asia. Many species are known as riffle minnows or spirlins. Species These are the currently recogni ...

'' is classified in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Leuciscinae Leuciscinae is a subfamily of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, which includes the fishes known as daces, chubs, shiners and minnows. The fishes in this subfamily are mainly found i ...

of the family Leuciscidae.

Etymology

''Alburnoides devolli'' belongs to the genus ''Alburnoides'', this name suffixes ''-oides'' on to the genus name ''

Alburnus ''Alburnus'' is a genus of fish in the family Leuciscidae, the daces and minnows. They are known commonly as bleaks. A group of species in the genus is known as shemayas. The genus occurs in the western Palearctic realm, and the center of diversi ...

'', which is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for whitefish but also refers to the

bleak Bleak may refer to: Fish * Species of the genus ''Alburnus'' * Some species of the genus ''Acanthobrama'' * ''Alburnoides bipunctatus'', also known as the schneider * ''Alburnoides oblongus'', Tashkent riffle bleak * ''Aphyocypris chinensis'', Chi ...

, a name which means pale in English, in reference to the pale non lustrous colour of ''

Alburnus alburnus The bleak or common bleak (''Alburnus alburnus'') is a small freshwater coarse fish of the family Leuciscidae, which includes the minnows, daces and bleaks. The common bleak is found in Europe and Western Asia. Description The body of the ...

''. The suffix ''-oides'' is used to indicate that this taxon is similar to ''Alburnus'', with the type species of the ''Alburnoides'' being '' Alburnus maculatus''. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

refers to the type locality , the Devoll River in Albania.

Description

''Alburnoides devolli'' has 12 soft rays in the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

and between 15 and 17 in its

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

. A feature which identifies the Devoll riffle minnow from its congeners is that of the soft rays in the anal fin to of them are branched. It can also be distinguished by the possession of between 44 and 48 pored scales on the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

, the shallow

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

, the scaled

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

keel and the straight upturned mouth, as well as some skeletal features. This species has a maximum

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

''Alburnoides devolli'' is

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 ...

to the upper reaches of the Devoll River, which is a tributary of the Seman River system in eastern Albania. It is found in shallow streams, between deep where there is a moderately fast current. There are dams within its range and it is not known if these have been colonised by this fish.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6424352 devolli Freshwater fish of Europe Endemic fauna of Albania Taxa named by Nina Gidalevna Bogutskaya Taxa named by Primož Zupančič Taxa named by Alexander Mikhailovich Naseka Fish described in 2010