The scaleless killifish or Hazar toothcarp (''Kosswigichthys asquamatus'') 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

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in 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 ...

Aphaniidae Aphaniidae, the Oriental killifishes, are a family of the order Cyprinodontiformes. The 42 extant species of the family inhabit inland waters, rivers and lagoons. The distribution of these species extends from the entire Mediterranean region th ...

. It is the only species in its genus, and 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 ...

Lake Hazar Lake Hazar (; ; ) is a rift lake in the Taurus Mountains, 22 km southeast of Elazığ, notable as the source of the Tigris. Formerly known as Lake Geoljuk, the lake was used as an execution site during the Armenian genocide. Sunken city ...

in Turkey. It is a pelagic species that comes to shore in spring–early summer to spawn. It is threatened by the falling water levels of Lake Hazar due to water abstraction and reduced rainfall due to climate change.

References

Endemic fauna of Turkey Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish described in 1842 {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub