''Alburnoides economoui'', the Spercheios 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 ...

, the daces and minnows. This species 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 Greece where it is found only in the drainage system of the

Spercheios The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latinization of names, Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in Central Greece (geographic region), central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped a ...

river.

Taxonomy

''Alburnoides economoui'' was first formally described in 2017 by

Roberta Barbieri Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

, Jasna Vukićć,

Radek Šanda Radek is a masculine Christian name of Slavic origin. It is often nickname of Radovan, Ctirad and Radoslav. It is used as a surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Radek Baborák, Czech conductor and French ho ...

and Stamatis Zogaris with its type locality given as the Spercheios River, Loutra Ypatis, Greece at 38°54'14"N, 22°17'30"E. Previously all of the spirlins in Greece were considered to be of the subspecies '' Alburnoides bipunctatus thessalicus'' but this was reclassified as the species '' A. thessalicus''. ''A. thessalicus'' is now considered to be found only in the Pineios,

Haliacmon The Haliacmon (, ''Aliákmonas''; formerly: , ''Aliákmon'' or ''Haliákmōn'') is the longest river flowing entirely in Greece, with a total length of . In Greece there are three rivers longer than Haliacmon: Maritsa (), Struma (Strymónas), bot ...

and

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

rivers with ''A. economoui'' being described from the Spercheios. This species is classified in 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 ...

'' within 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

Etymology

''Alburnoides economoui'' 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 ...

honours Alcibiades N. Economou, the Research Director at the Institute of Inland Waters of the Hellenic Center for Marine Research, in recognition of his “significant” contributions to the biogeography and ecology of the Greek fish fauna.

Description

''Alburnoides economoui'' can be distinguished from all the other Greek ''Alburnoides'' species by the presence of very few or the complete absence of scales on the ventral keel. It also differs in possessing a combination of a conical, slightly pointed snout which is shorter than the diameter of the eye; a terminal mouth with the highest point of the mouthbelow the centre of the eye, a slanted and curved rear portion of the mouth; a relatively deep

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

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 ...

has 10 to 12 rays in total with being branched, while the

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 ...

contains between 15 and 17 soft rays with being branched. In life the colour is silvery, darker on the upper body and anal fins, these may be reddish in females. The 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 this species is .

Distribution and habitat

''Alburnoides economoui'' is endemic to the Spercheios River system in the

Phthiotis Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece. The capital is the city of La ...

regional unit of Central Greece. The Spercheios spirlin prefers perennial streams and river stretches where there is fast-flowing, well-oxygenated waters, normally with stony substrates. It can also. however, be found in sluggish canals and spring-fed ditches in the lower floodplain of the river.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q67183789 economiou Fish described in 2017