Cobitis bilseli

Common name. Great Beyşehir spined loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Cobitis in Mediterranean basin east of Eşen and endorheic basins in Central Anatolia by: ● one lamina circularis on pectoral in male, base of pectoral ray adjacent to lamina circularis swollen / ● a short skin-flap before genital papilla. Size up to 195 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lake Beyşehir basin, in streams Sarıöz (Eylikler) and Sarıçay north of Beyşehir (and possibly others). Also, in river flowing from Lake Beyşehir to Lake Suğla and seasonally in outflow of Lake Beyşehir, possibly more widespread.

Habitat. Running waters with gravel or sand bottoms, often with dense submerged vegetation.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. EN; appears to be declining within its very small range.

Remarks. This is the largest spined loach in the world. It was placed in a separate subgenus, Beyshehiria, but belongs to a group of species around C. simplicispina. It is related to the geographically adjacent C. pirii from Lake Eğirdir basin. It is the only species of this species group having one lamina circularis, while all other species have two.

Further reading. Battalgil 1942 (description); Freyhof et al. 2018c (description).