''Romanichthys'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 ...
. It is one of two genera in the
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
Romanichthyini
Romanichthyini is a tribe (taxonomy), tribe of freshwater ray-finned fish which is one of two tribes in the subfamily Luciopercinae, which in turn is classified under the Family (biology), family Percidae, the family also includes the perches, Sa ...
which, along with the tribe
Luciopercini
''Sander'' (formerly known as ''Stizostedion'') is a genus of predatory ray-finned fish in the family Percidae, which also includes the perches, ruffes, and darters. They are also known as "pike-perch" because of their resemblance to fish in th ...
, forms 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 ...
Luciopercinae
The Luciopercinae is a subfamily of ray-finned fish, classified within the Family (biology), family Percidae, the subfamily includes the pike-perches and zingels. The pike-perches of the genus ''Zander, Sander'' have an Holarctic distribution whi ...
of 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 ...
Percidae
The Percidae are a family of ray-finned fish, part of the order Perciformes, which are found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The majority are Nearctic, but there are also Palearctic species. The family contains nearly 250 ...
. This happens alongside the
perch
Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
es,
ruffes, and
darters. The genus
contains the single species ''Romanichthys valsanicola'', known as the sculpin-perch, asprete, or Romanian darter.
This fish was
described in 1957 by Romanian student scientists M. Dumitrescu, P. Bănărescu, and N. Stoica. Local names include ''asprete'', ''poprete'', and ''sforete''. Endemic to a very restricted area in southern
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, it was found in the upper reach of the
Argeş River and in two of its tributaries:
Râul Doamnei and
Vâlsan. Due to hydrotechnical constructions and deterioration of its habitat, it survived only in the tributary Vâlsan.
Description
''R. valsanicola'' is a small, greyish-brown fish growing to about long, covered with small, rough scales. It can be distinguished from other European perches by the two clearly separated dorsal fins. The first has eight or nine spines and the anal fin has 7½ branched rays and 58–68 scales 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 ...
.
The fish is considered to be a
living fossil
A living fossil is a Deprecation, deprecated term for an extant taxon that phenotypically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of or ...
, unchanged for tens of millions of years.
Biology
The time of reproduction is in May and June. The female lays 120 to 150 eggs under rocks. This fish is active at night and feeds on the aquatic larvae of insects such as
stoneflies (Plecoptera),
caddisflies
The caddisflies (order Trichoptera) are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis ...
(Trichoptera), and
mayflies
Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the order ...
(Ephemeroptera). It hides under stones during the day.
[ It is a nocturnal species that is highly ]territorial
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...
, and the territories are aggressively defended at night.
Status
This species is an endangered freshwater fish and is found on the red list of 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 ...
, where it is rated as Critically Endangered
An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
. Its area of distribution has drastically diminished, and it is now considered to be the European fish genus with the most restricted range. The last remaining population in the Vâlsan River is totally reliant on the amount of water released by the reservoir immediately upstream.
Taxonomy
''Romanichthys'' is the sister taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
of the four species in the genus ''Zingel
''Zingel'' is a genus of fish in the family Percidae. They are long and slender, reaching in length. They are found in rivers and streams in Europe. They feed mainly on aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans and insect larvae, and also eat s ...
'' and some evidence suggests that these two genera may be a single genus and that the asprete should be classified within ''Zingel''.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17141297, from2=Q155255
Luciopercinae
Endemic fauna of Romania
Monotypic freshwater fish genera
Taxa named by Petre Mihai Bănărescu