Luciobarbus mursa (Guldenstadt, 1773)

Luciobarbus mursa View in CoL View Figure

Common name. Mursa.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Luciobarbus in Caspian basin and Hari drainage by: ● lower lip thick and fleshy, with median lobe or pad / ● 83–103 total lateral-line scales / ○ 8½ branched dorsal rays / ● back between head and dorsal origin not or slightly compressed / ○ colouration of back and belly not sharply contrasted / ○ predorsal length equal or longer than postdorsal length / ○ body plain brown in life. Size up to about 400 mm SL.

Distribution View Figure . Kura and Aras drainages east to Gorgan.

Habitat. Wide range of streams and rivers with fast to moderately fast-flowing water. Also, in lakes and reservoirs, from where fish migrate to rivers and streams to spawn.

Biology. Spawns first time at 2−3 years, females later than males, between April and August. Migrates to uppermost tributaries of rivers to spawn in fast-flowing water on gravel. Feeds on invertebrates, algae, detritus, plant material, and small fish.

Conservation status. VU; important commercial species, particularly prized in Georgia and severely overfished, especially in Kura and Aras.

Remarks. Reports from Urmia basin ( Iran) have yet to be confirmed and are probably mistaken.

Further reading. Berg 1949b (identification, distribution); Bogutskaya et al. 2003b (biology); Kaya et al. 2020a (distribution); Coad 2021a (biology, morphology).