Teleostei (teleosts) >
Cypriniformes (Carps) >
Cobitidae (Spined loaches)
Etymology: Cobitis: Greek, kobitis, -idos = a kind of sardine; also related with the voice Greek, kobios, Latin gobius = gudgeon (Ref. 45335).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Freshwater; benthopelagic; non-migratory. Temperate
Europe: Danube basin, upper Elbe and Odra drainages (Ref. 59043). Argeşel River in Romania (Ref. 13696).
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 14.6 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 85455); 13.0 cm SL (female); max. reported age: 5 years (Ref. 59043)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
One lamina circularis. Presence of one black spot on upper caudal base about the size of eye or pupil, and oval or round. Pigmentation (Gambetta's longitudinal zone of pigmentation): zone Z3 usually wider than zone Z2; zones Z2 and Z3 reaching beyond dorsal base.
Adults are found in flowing or still waters from small brooks to large rivers, springs, lakes and oxbows on sand, silt or mud bottom (Ref. 59043). Usually found together with hybridogenous, sperm-parasitic lineages, which have originated by hybridisation with C. taenia and C. tanaitica. Oviparous, possibly with distinct pairing during breeding similar to congeners (Ref. 205). Spawning period occurs from April to July in aquatic vegetation (Ref. 59043). Distinguished from C. vardarensis and C. pontica only by chromosome characters. They cannot be distinguished in the field. (Ref. 59043).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
During courtship, 'the male follows the female and, after both enter dense vegetation (e.g. filamentous algae), the male forms a complete ring around the female's body behind the dorsal as the female releases the eggs' (Ref. 59043).
Kottelat, M. and J. Freyhof, 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol and Freyhof, Berlin. 646 pp. (Ref. 59043)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00525 (0.00292 - 0.00944), b=3.07 (2.92 - 3.22), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.3 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Generation time: 1.8 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=5; Assumed Fec < 10,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
