CYPRINIDAE, A. d'Orbigny, 1844

Family CYPRINIDAE View in CoL

Genus Luciobarbus Heckel 1843

8. Caspian barbel Luciobarbus caspius (Berg, 1914)

This species is an anadromous fish, endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. It is distributed in the western part of the sea (from the northern coast of Kazakhstan to eastern Iran) ( IUCN, 2024). It spawns mainly in the Terek, Kura, Lankaran, Sefid Rud, and Gorgan rivers. Before the construction of the Mingachevir HPP, this species migrated in the Kura River up to the lower reaches of the Alazani River. Individual records of this barbel are known from the Volga, Terek and Samur rivers ( Bogutskaya et al., 2013). The IUCN classifies its conservation status as LC ( IUCN, 2024). Since this species is endemic to the Caspian Sea, is declining in abundance, is listed in the RDB of Kalmykia ( Ochirov, 2014), and faces many threats, especially to its migration routes and habitat quality ( IUCN, 2024), there is an urgent need to protect its spawning grounds, completely ban commercial and recreational fishing, and reduce pollution levels.

9. Bulatmai barbel Luciobarbus capito (Güldenstädt, 1773)

This is a commercially important species, endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. This barbel is mainly found in the western part of the Caspian Sea from the Volga River to the Atrak River ( IUCN, 2024). In this area, this species prefers shallow desalinated coastal waters with depths to 20- 25 m. In freshwater, this species is reported from all rivers of the western coast from the Terek to the Kura and Lankaran, and from the Iranian coast to the Atrak River ( Bogutskaya et al., 2013). This species is listed in the RDBs of the Russian Federation ( Pavlov, 2021), Republic of Dagestan ( Magomedov, 2009) and Azerbaijan (Habibbayli and Babyev, 2023) (category II as a not abundant, declining species), as well as in the IUCN RLTS as VU ( IUCN, 2024). Despite this, the species continues to decline, mainly due to over-regulation of river flows on spawning migration routes, water pollution, destruction of spawning grounds and IUU fishing ( Pavlov, 2021; IUCN, 2024). This demonstrates the low effectiveness of existing conservation measures for this species and the need for additional protection.

10. Aral barbel Luciobarbus brachycephalus (Kessler, 1872)

This species is an endemic to the Caspian and Aral seas basins, including their tributaries. In the Caspian region, this barbel occurs in both the western and southern parts of the basin ( Geng et al., 2022). In southwestern Russia, it still occurs in the lower reaches of the Terek River, where it used to spawn in the past ( Bogutskaya et al., 2013). This barbel has disappeared from most of the lower reaches of the Kura River in Azerbaijan, although a landlocked population exists in the Mingachevir reservoir and the Alazani River tributary. It continues to occur in some other locations in Azerbaijan ( Kuljanishvili et al., 2020; IUCN, 2024). The Aral barbel was a valuable commercial species in the past, but its natural populations are currently declining due to over-regulation of river flows, anthropogenic impacts on its habitat and IUU fishing ( IUCN, 2024). The main conservation measures in Kazakhstan are listing in the RDB in category II (Meldybekov, 2010), prohibition of fishing, and artificial propagation ( Adyrbekova et al., 2023). The IUCN has classified this species as VU ( IUCN, 2024). Due to the ongoing population decline in the Caspian Sea basin, this species is in need of additional protection.

Genus Vimba Fitzinger, 1873

11. Caspian vimba Vimba persa (Pallas, 1814)

This species is an endemic to the Caspian Sea basin and has a fairly wide distribution. It spawns in the rivers of Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Iran from the Kuma and Terek to the Gulf of Gorgan. In the Volga River, where its spawning migrations are limited to the Delta, this species migrates in very small numbers ( Berg, 1949, Boldyrev et al., 2023). The Caspian vimba is listed in the RDBs of the Astrakhan Region ( Pilipenko et al., 2014) and the Republic of Kalmykia ( Ochirov, 2014). Although the IUCN assesses its status as LC ( IUCN, 2024), there is a continuous decline in abundance in the modern period, caused by changes in the hydrological regime of rivers due to their flow regulation, water pollution and IUU fishing. There is therefore a need to develop additional conservation measures for this species.