Aphanius fasciatus

Common name. Mediterranean killifish.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from A. almiriensis by: ● female with narrow, isolated, dark-grey or brown bars on flank / ● dorsal and anal reaching caudal base in male. Size up to about 60 mm SL.

Distribution. Deltaic areas of Köyceğiz, Göksu, Seyhan, and Ceyhan, in a stream near Iskenderun, lowermost Susurluk in Marmara basin, and perhaps elsewhere in southern Türkiye. Mediterranean coast from Moulouya estuary (Morocco) east to Egypt, Cyprus, and Syria; in tributaries of Chott el Gharsa and Lake Keliba in Tunisia and Chott Melrhir and Touggourt oasis in Algeria. Entering Bitter Lakes in Egypt via Suez Canal. Locally along Syrian and Israeli coasts (Haifa, now extirpated), in Siwas and Fayum Oasis in Egypt. In Nile Delta and adjacent coastal lagoons. Largely absent from Aegean basin, but recorded from island of Evia (Greece). In Europe, from Camargue (France) east to western Greece, including Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Malta. In Spain, recently appeared in Ebro Delta, which was thought to have been released by aquarists, but population seems to have disappeared.

Habitat. Coastal lagoons in fresh (with high mineral content), brackish, and even hypersaline waters. Often in shallow, still or slow-flowing brackish waters, especially at estuaries.

Biology. Live up to 3 years, spawns for the first time at 7–12 months. Spawns March–June in Italy, April–July in Greece, April–September in Corsica. Males establish territories along shore, usually in dense vegetation but also between rocks, which they defend against rivals. Females spawn with one or more males, usually in seaweed or other vegetation close to surface or in gravel beds. Few eggs are laid in substrate during a spawning event. Individual females may produce several clutches in one day. Eggs hatch in 10–14 days. Juveniles form large schools, and non-nuptial males and females swarm and are often pelagic. Feeds on small benthic or planktonic invertebrates, anflug and algae.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. There appear to be no current records of this species from the Egyptian Bitter Lakes and the northern Red Sea, and the species may be no longer found here. The distribution of A. fasciatus in the eastern Mediterranean has yet to be fully understood. The distribution limits with similar A. almiriensis along the Aegean coast of Türkiye are still unclear but seem to lie between Köyceğiz and Bafa.

Further reading. Tigano & Ferrito 1985 (osteology); Gandolfi et al. 1991 (biology); Wildekamp 1993 (description); Leonardos & Sinis 1998 (reproduction); Kottelat et al. 2007 (systematics); Valdesalici et al. 2019 (distribution).