Phoxinus colchicus Berg 1910
Authors/Creators
Description
Phoxinus colchicus
Common name. Caucasian minnow.
Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Phoxinus in West Asia by:● belly between pectoral bases entirely covered by scales in male, absent in female / ● a supraorbital ridge margined by a longitudinal depression extending from nostrils backwards / ● caudal-peduncle depth 2.1–2.9 times in its length / ○ 75–91 total lateral line scales. Size up to 82 mm SL.
Distribution. Caucasian Black Sea basin of Russia and Georgia south to Çoruh (Borçka, Türkiye). Records from Hopa (eastern Türkiye) not confirmed.
Habitat. A wide range of cold and well-oxygenated habitats, from small, fast-flowing streams to large rivers. Spawns on clean gravel beds in flowing water.
Biology. Gregarious, rheophilic. Spawns April–July, in schools, fractional spawners, females lay sticky eggs deep in clean gravel. Feeds on invertebrates, algae, and detritus.
Conservation status. LC.
Further reading. Berg 1949b (description); Kottelat 2007 (systematics); Kottelat & Freyhof 2007 (biology, distribution); Bayçelebi et al. 2015 (record from Çoruh).
Notes
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Linked records
Additional details
Identifiers
Biodiversity
- Scientific name authorship
- Berg
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Phoxinus
- Species
- colchicus
- Taxon rank
- species
- Taxonomic concept label
- Phoxinus colchicus Berg, 1910 sec. Freyhof, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Jouladeh-Roudbar & Kaya, 2025
References
- Berg, L. S. 1949 b. [Freshwater fishes of the U. S. S. R. and adjacent countries. Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskva & Leningrad 470 - 925. [Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 1965].
- Kottelat, M. 2007. Three new species of Phoxinus from Greece and southern France (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 18: 145-162.
- Kottelat, M. & J. Freyhof. 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Kottelat, Cornol, Switzerland & Freyhof, Berlin, Germany.
- Baycelebi, E., D. Turan & B. Japoshvili. 2015. Fish fauna of Coruh River and two first record for Turkey. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 15: 777-788. https://doi.org/10.4194/1303-2712-v15_4_01