''Phoxinellus alepidotus'', the Dinaric minnow, is a species of

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

ray-finned fish 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, Eurasian minnows and related species. This species is found in Southeastern Europe, in the Western Balkans.

Taxonomy

''Phoxinellus alepidotus'' was first formally described in 1843 by the Austrian

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

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 ...

with its type locality given as

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. This species is the type species of the genus ''

Phoxinellus ''Phoxinellus'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. These fishes are found in the Balkans. Taxonomy ''Phoxinellus'' was first used as agen ...

'', being designated as the type species ny

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...

in 1859 or 1860. The genus ''Phoxineluus'' is classified within the subfamily

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 Leuciscidae.

Etymology

''Phoxinellus alepidotus'' is the type species of the genus ''Phoxinellus'', this name is a diminutive of ''

Phoxinus ''Phoxinus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the family Leuciscidae of order Cypriniformes, and the only members of the subfamily Phoxininae, or Eurasian minnows. The other species in this genus are also commonly known as minnows. The name "minn ...

'', the genus of the "true" Eurasian minnows. It is thought that Heckel may have coined this name due to the small size of ''P. alepidotus'' when compared to '' Cyprinus phoxinus''. 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 ...

, ''alepidotus'', means "without scales", a reference to the absnce of scales on the body of these fishes, apart from those 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 ...

Description

''Phoxinellus alepidotus'' has an elongate body with 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 . The body has no scales except for the scales along the lateral line which has between 11 and 42 pored scales along its length. The lateral line ends between 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). ...

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. The mouth is subterminal 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 forked.

Distribution and habitat

''Phoxinellus alepidotus'' is found in the Western Balkans in Southeastern Europe where it is found in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. It is only found in the drainage system of the

Cetina The Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Nap ...

in the Dinaric

Karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been recorded in Grahovsko, Livanjsko, Glamočko and Duvanjsko poljes, these drain to the Cetina via underground karstic conduits. This species has also been introduced to Lake Blidinje, which sits in an isolated upland plateau in the basin of the Duvanjsko polje basin, and to the upper

Unac River The Unac ( sr-cyrl, Унац) is a sinking river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rises beneath Šator mountain, flows through the municipality of Drvar and finally meets Una River in Martin Brod. Also runs through two deep and rugged karstic cany ...

, a tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. It has only been reported from two small lakes in Croatia, these are Miloševo and Stipančevo in the Hrvatačko polje. These lakes are located next to one another and when flooded they merge into a single wetland. This species is found in lowland water bodies, in clear streams and in the winter and during droughts they will move into underground karstic waters.

Conservation

''Phoxinellus alepidotus'' is classified as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature 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 stat ...

. It has a restricted range and its habitat is being degraded by many anthropogenic factors including pollution, damming, water abstraction and non-native

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q690504 alepidotus Fish described in 1843 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina Endemic fauna of the Balkans Freshwater fish of Europe Endemic fish of the Neretva basin