''Leucos aula'', the North Italian roach, 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 in cludes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. This species is found in the river systems draining into

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

basin in southern Europe.

Taxonomy

''Leucis aula'' was first formally described as ''Squalius aulus'' in 1841 by the French

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...

with its type locality given as the

Province of Venice The province of Venice () was a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Venice. It had an area of 2,467 km2, and a total population of 836,916 (2021). The province became the Metropolitan City of Venice by 1 Janu ...

in Italy. It is now classified as a valid species in the genus ''

Leucos ''Leucos'' is a genus of fishes in the family Leuciscidae, from Southern Europe. They are a taxon which is closely related to the genus ''Rutilus ''Rutilus'', commonly known as roaches, is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to ...

'' 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

, being the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of that genus.

Etymology

''Leucos aula'' is the type species of the genus ''

'', this name is derived from the Greek ''leukos'' which means "white", the genus was named by

Johann Jakob Heckel Johann Jakob Heckel (23 January 1790 – 1 March 1857) was an Austrian taxidermist, zoology, zoologist, and ichthyology, ichthyologist from Mannheim in the Electoral Palatinate. He worked at the Royal natural history cabinet in Vienna which later ...

and he did not explain why he chose this name, it may be that it refers to the silvery colour of ''Squalius aula''. 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 ...

, ''aula'', was not explained by Bonaparte but it may be a latinisation of ''avola'' the Italian or Venezian name for a bleak but which may have been applied to this species too.

Description

''Leucos aula'' has its

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and

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 ...

s each supported by 12 soft rays. It can be distinguished from all other species in the genus ''Leucos'' by a band along 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 ...

and a shorter head. Within Italy this species can be distinguished by commonly having branched rays in the dorsal and anal fins. It also has between 36 and 42, typically 38 or 39 scales in the lateral line. The mouth is subterminal, the

pelvic The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton). ...

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectora ...

and anal fins are greyish and the eye is red in life. There is an obvious dark brown midlateral stripe runniong from the eye to the base of the tail. The North Italian roach has a maximum

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

of .

Distribution and habitat

''Leucos aula'' is found in rivers draining into the northern Adriatic Sean, extending from the Esino River in the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

region of Italy to the Raša River in

Istria County Istria County (; ; , "Istrian Region") is the westernmost Counties of Croatia, county of Croatia which includes the majority of the Istrian peninsula. Administrative centers in the county are Pazin, Pula and Poreč. Istria County has the larg ...

in Croatia. There are a few isolated populations further south in Croatia in

Zadar County Zadar County ( ) is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its seat is the city of Zadar. Geography Among the largest towns in the county of Zadar are: Zadar, Benkovac, Bibinje, Biograd, Nin, Croatia, Nin ...

, including Lake Veliko on the island of Pag, in at least two short coastal streams in

Ravni Kotari Ravni Kotari (; ) is a geographical region in Croatia. It lies in northern Dalmatia, around Zadar and east of it. It is bordered by Bukovica to the northeast, lower Krka to the southeast, and the Adriatic Sea. The largest settlement in the region ...

near the city of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, and may also be found in the Lake Vrana basin. In Italy the North Albania roach has been introduced to the south of its natural range to rivers draining the into the

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people. Geography The sea borders Italy as far as ...

and

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

where it is considered invasive. This species has also become naturalised in at least one reservoir in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. The North Italian roach is found in slow moving river stretches, lakes and ponds, mostly in the lowlands but it can be found in perialpine lakes within the Po River drainage in Italy and Switzerland. This species is frequently associated with submerged vegetation, and frequently colonises reservoirs and drainage channels.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1400728

aula Aula may refer to: *Avola, a city in Sicily (''Àula'' in Sicilian) *Aula, Eritrea, a village in western Eritrea *Aula (river) Aula is a river of Hesse, Germany. The 22.6-km Aula is a 22.6 km long tributary of the Fulda, joining it in Niederau ...

Fish described in 1841 Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte