Alburnoides holciki

Common name. Hari spirlin.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Alburnoides in Caspian basin and Hari drainage by: ○ horizontal eye diameter equal or slightly to clearly larger than interorbital distance / ○ ventral keel completely scaleless or almost completely scaleless / ○ 4, rarely 5, pharyngeal teeth on right 5 th ceratobranchial / ○ snout pointed / ○ mouth terminal, lower lip slightly projecting upper lip / ○ tip of mouth cleft situated at a horizontal line with upper half of pupil / ○ body depth at dorsal origin greater than head length / ○ lateral line with bold dark-grey or black dots above and below pores / ○ 46−55+2−3, usually 47−51+2−3, lateral-line scales / ○ 11−16½ branched anal rays / ○ 5−9, usually 6−8, gill rakers. Size up to 93 mm SL.

Distribution. Hari and Morghab endorheic basins and Zeravshan and Amu Darya drainages (Aral basin). Also, in Atrak drainage in Iranian Caspian basin.

Habitat. Hill streams and small rivers with moderate to fast-flowing water, gravel, and silt substrate.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Alburnoides parhami from the Atrak (Iran) is a synonym. Alburnoides varentsovi from the northern slopes of Kopetdag Mountains in Turkmenistan is another poorly known Alburnoides from Central Asia.

Further reading. Coad & Bogutskaya 2012 (description); Mousavi-Sabet et al. 2015c (description of A. parhami); Eagderi et al. 2019a (phylogeny).