Paraschistura turcmenica

Common name. Turkmenian loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Paraschistura in West Asia by: ○ scales completely absent / ○ flank with marbled colour pattern, or with bars dissociated in a row of midlateral blotches and saddles on back, or with 11–14 irregularly shaped and set, dark-brown bars on flank, usually dissociated into two adjacent narrow bars or individual bars with a central open space / ○ suborbital flap or groove absent in male / ○ no dorsal adipose crest / ○ caudal emarginate / ○ a bold black spot at base of first dorsal rays / ○ snout blunt / ○ usually 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ body depth at dorsal origin 13–15 % SL / ○ pelvic reaching to about 1–2 eye diameter in front of anus / ○ pelvic origin below first or third branched dorsal ray. Size up to 53 mm SL.

Distribution. Eastern Kavir basin, Atrak drainage, western Karakum Desert, Hari in Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Morghab in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and northern slope of Kopetdag in Turkmenistan.

Habitat. Streams and springs with moderate to fast-flowing freshwater in mountain and desert landscapes.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Nemacheilus kessleri turcomanus is likely a synonym for this species. Paraschistura turcomanus has recently been re-validated, but while syntypes of P. turcomana examined for that study are typical of P. turcmenica, the species identified as P. turcmenica may be juvenile P. cristata.

Further reading. Freyhof et al. 2015 (diagnosis); Mousavi-Sabet et al. 2015d (P. turcomana).