Published November 12, 2025 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Luciobarbus graecus

Description

Luciobarbus graecus

Common name. Greek barbel.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Luciobarbus in Mediterranean basin by: ● 43–48 total lateral line scales. Size up to 400 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Bakacak on Biga Peninsula west to Çanakkale and south to Büyük Menderes. Also, lakes Yliki and Paralimni plus Sperchios drainage in southwestern Greece. Introduced to Beletsi and Marathon reservoirs and Kifissos drainage.

Habitat. Large to medium-sized streams and rivers with moderate currents. Also, in reservoirs.

Biology. Spawns April−July.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Luciobarbus kottelati, and L. lydianus are synonyms. The biogeography of L. graecus is a mystery, and it is possible that L. graecus was introduced to Greece before the time of ichthyological exploration.

Further reading. Turan et al. 2008a (description as L. kottelati); Güçlü et al. 2013, İlhan et al. 2020, 2021 (distribution in Anatolia); Freyhof & Yoğurtçuoğlu 2024 (synonymy of L. kottelati and L. lydianus)

Notes

Published as part of Freyhof, Jörg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, GmbH, Berlin / Boston :De Gruyter on pages 234-235, DOI: 10.1515/9783111677811, http://zenodo.org/record/17881367

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Linked records

Additional details

References

  • Turan, D., F. G. Ekmekci, A. Ilhan & S. Engin. 2008 a. Luciobarbus kottelati, a new species of barbel (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from the Buyuk Menderes River, Turkey, with rediagnose of L. lydianus. Zootaxa 1824: 35-44. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1824.1.4
  • Guclu, S., F. Kucuk, O. O. Ertan & Z. Guclu. 2013. The fish fauna of the Buyuk Menderes River (Turkey): taxonomic and zoogeographic features. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 13: 685-698. https://doi.org/10.4194/1303-2712-v13_4_14
  • Ilhan, A., H. M. Sari & I. Kurtul. 2020. Bakircay Nehri (Kuzey Ege, Turkiye) Balik Faunasi. Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37: 309-312.
  • Ilhan, A., H. Sari, I. Kurtul, & S. Atak. 2021. Kucuk Menderes Nehri Balik Faunasina Katkilar. Journal of Limnology and Freshwater Fisheries Research 7 (3): 198-206.
  • Freyhof, J. & B. Yogurtcuoglu. 2024. Luciobarbus lydianus and L. kottelati, two synonyms of L. graecus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa 5415: 466-476. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5415.3.6