Cobitis fahireae, Erk'akan, Atalay-Ekmekci & Nalbant, 1998

Cobitis fahireae View in CoL View Figure

Common name. Aegean spined loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Cobitis in eastern Aegean basin by: ● 12–18 roundish, triangular, squarish, or horizontally elongate blotches in Z4, often densely set and fused into short stripes along anterior and middle part of flank / ● blotches vertically elongate on posterior part of flank / ○ black spot at upper caudal base absent or comma-shaped, smaller than eye diameter / ○ Z3 with a row or a narrow band of small spots not forming a sand-like pattern / ○ focal zone of subdorsal scale small / ○ blotches in Z2 and Z4 well separated, fused into a bold stripe in some individuals / ○ flank without pigmentation below zone Z4 / ○ one lamina circularis in male. Size up to 89 mm SL.

Distribution View Figure . Türkiye: Upper Dalaman drainage (around Gölhisar) north to Madra drainage in Aegean basin.

Habitat. Streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, usually on sand or fine gravel in slow or moderate fast-flowing waters.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Cobitis kurui , described from the Küçük Men- deres, and C. damlae from the upper Dalaman are synonyms. Cobitis damlae was described for an albinotic individual miss-perceived as a cave fish. Molecular data indicate a moderate diversity of different populations identified as C. fahireae within its large range, and we cannot fully exclude that more than one species is involved. Initial examination of several populations did not reveal any characters allowing to distinguish different populations as distinct species.

Further reading. Erk’akan et al. 1998 (description); Erk’akan & Özdemir 2014 ( Cobitis damlae ); Freyhof et al. 2018c (diagnosis, synonyms).