Published November 12, 2025 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Oxynoemacheilus cyri

Description

Oxynoemacheilus cyri

Common name. Kura banded loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Caspian basin by: ● suborbital groove absent in male / ● flank with 12–17 distinct, regularly shaped and set bars / ● caudal very slightly emarginate or truncate. Size up to 74 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Ardahan plateau in upper Kura drainage.

Habitat. Slow or fast-flowing streams with gravel or rock bottoms and clear water.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC; has a small range in upper Kura drainage; its habitat is intact, the species is common, and no threats are known.

Remarks. It is a phylogenetically isolated species, restricted to a small area at high altitudes. It appears to be endemic to Türkiye and has never been found in downstream Armenia.

Further reading. Berg 1910 (description); Kaya et al. 2020a (distribution).

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 498-499, DOI: 10.1515/9783111677811, http://zenodo.org/record/17881367

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

References

  • Berg, L. S. 1910. Rapport sur une mission zoologique au Cascase en 1909. Zoologicheskago Muzeya Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk 15: 153-170.
  • Kaya, C., E. Baycelebi & D. Turan. 2020 a. Taxonomic assessment and distribution of fishes in upper Kura and Aras River drainages. Zoosystematics and Evolution 96: 325-344. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.96.52241