The ''Mangar'' or pike barbel,
[ (''Luciobarbus esocinus'') is a large species of ]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 ...
in the genus ''Luciobarbus
''Luciobarbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are found in fresh and brackish waters of southern Europe, northern Africa, the wider Near East, the Aral and Caspian Seas, and rivers associated with these. S ...
'' within the family Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...
, native to the Tigris–Euphrates river system
The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in West Asia that flows into the Persian Gulf. Its primary rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributary, tributaries.
From their sources and upper courses in the Ar ...
in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.[
The species is highly prized as a ]food fish
Many species of fish are caught by humans and consumed as food in virtually all regions around the world. Their meat has been an important dietary source of protein and other nutrients in the human diet.
The English language does not have a s ...
, but it has declined due to overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...
and habitat loss, making it vulnerable.[ It was well-known even in ancient times and there are illustrations from 1500–1000 BC showing ]Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
n priests or deities dressed in the skin of mangar.[Özgür, M.E. (2016). The ''Luciobarbus esocinus'' (Heckel, 1843) from the Euphrates River Basin: An introduction about its past, present and future. Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on Applied Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment 10 - 12 November 2016, Messolonghi, Greece. ]
Taxonomy
The mangar is the type species of ''Luciobarbus'', which was established for it by Heckel in 1843. The species scientific name
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
essentially means "pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
-like pike-barbel
Barbel may refer to:
*Barbel (anatomy), a whisker-like organ near the mouth found in some fish (notably catfish, loaches and cyprinids) and turtles
*Barbel (fish), a common name for certain species of fish
**''Barbus barbus'', a species of cyprini ...
" (after the northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...
, ''Esox lucius''), though a more literal translation would be "pike-like wolf-barbel".
Description
The species reaches a maximum length of up to and a weight of up to .[ It is considered one of the largest extant ]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 ...
s (surpassed by the giant barb
The giant barb, Siamese Giant carp, or simply Siamese carp (''Catlocarpio siamensis''; , ; , , , or , , ; Vietnamese: ''cá Hô'') is the largest species of cyprinid in the world. These migratory fish are found only in the Mae Klong, Mekong, and ...
), and may live for up to at least 17 years.[ It has a large head, with a toothless mouth surrounded by four barbels. The silvery body is covered with small scales. There is only one dorsal fin, a pair of pectoral and ventral fins. The anal fin and tail they have yellowish tones.
]
Distribution, habitat and behavior
The mangar occurs in the drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
s of the Euphrates
The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...
and Tigris
The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...
rivers in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Adults keep to larger bodies of water such as large rivers and reservoir, migrating to smaller inflows to spawn.[
The mangar has been recorded feeding on a wide range of animals, from ]zooplankton
Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
and invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
to fish and birds, but also phytoplankton
Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...
. Fish typically make up about half its food.[
]
Conservation
The species is currently classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
.[ Although no reliable population data are available, reports and catches have declined severely in recent decades, and it is believed that most populations are heavily overfished. Although some locations still show abundant numbers, widespread exploitation as a major target for inland fisheries is considered a cause for concern.][
The species has been bred in captivity and is considered to have potential in ]aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...
.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1592914
Mangar
Fish described in 1843
Taxa named by Johann Jakob Heckel