The Thessalian spirlin (''Alburnoides thessalicus'') 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 the southern Balkans in Greece and North Macedonia.

Taxonomy

The Thessalian spirlin was first formally described in 1950 as ''Alburnoides bipunctatus thessalicus'' by Alexander I. Stephanidis with its type locality given as the Malakasiotiko River in the Pinios River drainage in

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

, Greece at 39°46'47"N, 21°22'16"E. Previously all of the spirlins in Greece were considered to belong to this subspecies but this has now been 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 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 ...

, with other taxa elsewhere. 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

The Thessalian spirlin 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 ...

, ''thessalicus'', means "of Thessaly", referring to the type locality.

Description

The Thessalian spirlin has a relatively deep body and a rather thick, short, slightly or obviously rounded snout. The elngth of the snout is around the same as the diameter of the eye. The mouth is oblique with its highets point beneth the eye. There is a central keel for two third sof the body length which is scaled. 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 branched rays and the

caudal 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 only ...

is clearly forked with moderately pointed lobes. This fish 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

The Thessalian spirlin is endemic to the southern Blakns where it is found in the

River in North Macedonia and Greece and in the Pineiós, Haliacmon,

Loudias The Loudias () or Lydias (Λυδίας), popularly called Mavroneri (Μαυρονέρι, "Blackwater", from its Ottoman Turkish name ''Kara Asmak'' قره آصماق) is a river in Central Macedonia that flows through the regional units of Pell ...

and

Gallikos Gallikos () is a village and a former municipality in the Kilkis (regional unit), Kilkis regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Kilkis, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has ...

rivers in Greece. This fish is found in the flowing stretches of streams and rivers where the substrate is made up of cobbles and pebbles. It has also colonised some dammed reservoirs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q67183796 Alburnoides Fish described in 1950 Taxa named by Alexander I. Stephanidis