Capoeta pestai (Pietschmann, 1933)

Capoeta pestai View in CoL

Common name. Long-snout scraper.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Capoeta in Central Anatolia and Mediterranean basin by: ● edge of lower jaw arched, not cornified / ● lips fleshy / ● snout long, pointed / ○ one pair of barbels / ○ last unbranched dorsal ray strongly ossified, as long or longer than head in juveniles smaller than 80 mm, shorter in adults, its posterior edge of with many serrae / ○ 83–92 total lateral-line scales / ○ 16–18 gill rakers / ○ usually 8½ branched dorsal rays. Size up to 400 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lake Eğirdir and Beyşehir basins, Melendiz (Ihlara Valley) and Yeşildere ( Karaman) drainages in Central Anatolia.

Habitat. Streams with moderately fast-flowing or almost stagnant water. Regularly entering lakes.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. VU; remaining populations mostly in streams. Formerly a predominantly lacustrine species, migrating to lake tributaries to spawn. Since the introduction of Sander lucioperca , few individuals migrate to the lakes, but the situation has improved due to overfishing of Sander .

Remarks. Eggs are toxic. According to one report, diarrhea, vomiting and diaphoresis were reported 4.5 h after ingestion of ovaries. Capoeta pestai and C. mauricii are indistinguishable by molecular characters ( COI, cytochrome B) and morphological characters proposed to distinguish the two species could not be confirmed. Capoeta mauricii is treated as a synonym of C. pestai .

Further reading. Küçük et al. 2009a (morphology, distribution, description of C. mauricii ); Küçük et al. 2009b (conservation); Geiger et al. 2014, Bektaş et al. 2017 (phylogeny); Özeren et al. 2019 (distribution, synonyms); Bayçelebi et al. 2020a (distribution).