''Capoeta caelestis'', the Taurus scraper, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of freshwater

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a Family (biology), family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barb (fish), barbs and barbel (fish), barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the ...

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 ...

to southern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It has a max length of long. It is not widespread but inhabits many kinds of streams and habitats and is often quite abundant. It spawns in fast flowing waters. The range is from Ilica and

Manavgat Manavgat is a municipality and district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,351 km2, and its population is 252,941 (2022). It is from the city of Antalya. The Manavgat River has a waterfall near the city. Geography Between the Ta ...

east to

Göksu The Göksu River (), known in antiquity as the Calycadnus and in the Middle Ages as the Saleph, is a river on the Taşeli Plateau in southern Turkey. Its two sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northern in the Geyik Mountains and the s ...

river. ''Capoeta caelestis'' hybridizes in nature with '' Capoeta antalyensis'', forming a

hybrid zone A hybrid zone exists where the ranges of two interbreeding species or diverged intraspecific lineages meet and cross-fertilize. Hybrid zones can form ''in situ'' due to the evolution of a new lineage but generally they result from secondary cont ...

References

Caelestis Fish described in 2009 Taxa named by Müfit Özuluǧ Taxa named by Jörg Freyhof {{Cyprininae-stub