''Salmo platycephalus'', known as the flathead trout,Tarkan, AN et al. (2008
Threatened fishes of the world: ''Salmo platycephalus'' Behnke, 1968 (Salmonidae)
''Environ. Biol. Fishes'' 81, 371-372. Ala balik or the Turkish trout, is a type of

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...

, a fish in the family

Salmonidae Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefish ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to southeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is known only from one population, which occupies three streams, tributaries of the

Zamantı River Zamantı River is a river in Central Anatolia, Turkey, crossing Kayseri Province in practically its whole course to join Seyhan River further south, of which it is the western, the longest and the most important tributary. Zamantı and Göksu join ...

in the

Seyhan River The Seyhan River (formerly written ''Seihan'', ''Sihun''; ancient name: grc, Σάρος, ''Sáros''), alternatively known as ''Sarus'' (or in Turkish as ''Sarus Su''),John Garstang and O.R. Gurney is the longest river of Cilicia and the long ...

basin. The population itself is abundant, but subject to threat by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, since the range is small. Also, predation of juveniles by introduced

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

may cause population decline. The species is classified as critically endangered. Genetic evidence suggests that the flathead trout may indeed be derived from introduced

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

(''Salmo trutta'') and thus not be a distinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of its own. Nevertheless, it is a unique form which requires protection.

References

Literature

* Behnke, R.J. 1968. A new subgenus and species of trout, ''Salmo (Platysalmo) platycephalus'', from south-central Turkey, with comments on the classification of the subfamily Salmoninae. Mitt. Hamburg Zool. Mus. Inst. 66: 1–15. platycehphalus Fish described in 1969 Fish of Turkey Endemic fauna of Turkey Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Salmoniformes-stub