''Scardinius dergle'', the Dalmatian rudd is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related fishes. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the Western

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Taxonomy

''Scardinius dergle'' was first formally described in 1858 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 ...

and

Rudolf Kner Rudolf Ignaz Kner (24 August 1810 – 27 October 1869) was an Austrian geologist, paleontologist, zoologist and ichthyologist. He also wrote some poems which were published by his brother-in-law K.A. Kaltenbrunner. Biography Kner was bo ...

with its type locality givens as the Kerka and Zermanga rivers in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

and

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 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 was formerly considered to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of the

common rudd The common rudd (''Scardinius erythrophthalmus'') is a benthos, bentho-pelagic freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae. This species is widely spread in Europe and central Asia, around the ...

(''S. erythrophthalmus''). The Dalmatian rudd belongs to the genus '' Scardinius'', commonly referred to as rudds, which belongs to 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 Leuciscidae. A population of rudd in Lake Vrana on the island of

Cres Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, Krk island or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of , Cres has the same si ...

, not to be confused with Lake Vrana, has been assigned to this species but there are morphological differences and its taxonomic status needs to be ascertained.

Etymology

''Scardinius acarnanicus'' belongs to the genus ''Scardinius'' and this name is thought to be a latinisation of ''scardafa'', a

vernacular name Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...

in Italy, Rome in particular, for the Tiber rudd ('' Scardinius scardafa''). 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 ...

, ''dergle'', is a

for this fish in southern Dalmatia.

Description

''Scardinius dergle'' may be told apart from other

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

rudd species by having between 40 and 43 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

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 ...

has branched fin rays; 10-13 gill rakers; the dorsal profile of the head is straight, snout pointing forward, tip at or slightly below level of the middle of the eye; there is no hump behind the eye; the eye is not close to the dorsal profile of the head in lateral view; the articulation of lower jaw is under or to the front of the of eye; the ventral profile of the head has an obvious angle at the articulation of the lower jaw; the head length is equivalent to 28-32% of the

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 ...

while the depth of the body is equivalent to 28-38% of the standard length; and all fins grey in adults with a standard length greater than . This species has a maximum standard length of .

Distribution and habitat

''Scardinius dergle'' is endemic to 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 ...

occurring in the Krka and

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 ...

river systems in the Dalmatian Zagora of Croatia, and in the Livanjsko Polje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thos

polje A polje, also called karst polje or karst field, is a large flat plain found in karstic geological regions of the world, with areas usually in the range of 5–400 km2 (2–154 sq mi). The name derives from the Slavic languages, ...

has anatural connection to the Cetina through underground karstic channels. There is an isolated population in Lake Vrana, northwest of the Krka estuary. This species prefres slow moving water with aquatic vegetation in spring fed rivers, lakes and wetlands, it has colonised artificial habitats such as canals and reservoirs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5697361 dergle Fish described in 1858 Taxa named by Johann Jakob Heckel Taxa named by Rudolf Kner