Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bianco, Pier Giorgio & Ketmaier, Valerio, 2014, A revision of the Rutilus complex from Mediterranean Europe with description of a new genus, Sarmarutilus, and a new species, Rutilus stoumboudae (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), Zootaxa 3841 (3), pp. 379-402 : 395

Rutilus rutilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

(introduced in the study area)

Cyprinus rutilus Linnaeus, 1758: 234 (type locality: Europa)

Rutilus rutilus vegariticus Stephanidis, 1950: 203 (type locality, Lake Vegoritis, northern Greece).

Examined material. IZA 83108A, 107, Greece, Epirus, L. Joannina, P.G. Bianco, 23 February 1976.— IZA 88124, 6, England, R. Thames, A. Wheeler, 18 June 1986.— IZA 78115, 11, Romania, R. Danube, P. Banarescu, 23 September 1975.— IZA 0 475, 15, Greece, L. Vegoritis (type locality of R. vegariticus ), P.G. Bianco, 21 August 1998.— IZA 0 452, 5, FYROM, L. Dojran, R. Gruptché, 14 January 1971.—0477, 7, Italy L. Como, O. Mangione, April 2004.— IZA 0 478, 5, Slovenia, L. Pernica (R. Danube basin) at Mari-Bor, M. Povz, 29 March 1999.

Diagnosis. Rutilus rutilus compared to R. pigus has less scales on LL (39–44 vs 46–51), and higher number of total GR (12–16 vs. 9–12). Compared to Rutilus stoumboudae n.sp., R. rutilus has less total GR (12–15 vs. 15–18) and more branched rays both in the dorsal and anal fins (9–11 vs. 8–9). Proportional measurements and meristic counts are reported in Tables 4, 5.

Description. A species of Rutilus of medium-large size, characterized by the absence of a mid lateral band; body slightly compressed; and moderately elongate, dorsal profile convex; sometimes humped in larger specimens; posterior mouth corner placed above the vertical crossing the anterior margin of orbital cavity; mouth terminal, opening small, slightly downturned; lips smooth; horizontal diameter of the eye more than or equal to the preorbital length; head small, with a length about 4.2–4.6 times the SL; body depth, about 3.2–3.6 times the SL; origin of the D slightly below the insertion of the P2; free margin of dorsal and anal fins slightly concave; caudal fin deeply forked; LL complete, with 39–44 pored scales, placed below the middle of the body, slightly concave and extending from the upper margin of the opercular membrane to the end of caudal peduncle; modally 3 un-branched and modally 10 branched rays both in the dorsal and anal fins; P1 with 1 un-branched and 15–17 branched rays; P2 with 1 un-branched ray and constantly 8 branched rays; usually 12–14 total GR; color in life: eye from yellowish to a brilliant red; fins yellowish with some red; dorsal and caudal fins dark brown; peritoneal membrane silvery sometimes with few scattered melanophores. Additional description in Tables 4, 5.

Remark on synonym. The status of Rutilus vegariticus was still confused and inquirenda. It was considered as a valid species ( Economidis & Banarescu, 1991), or a subspecies of Rutilus ( Economidis, 1995) . Kottelat (1997) still considered questionable its validity as distinct taxon. Following its original description, no recent diagnosis and description of this nominal taxon were performed. According to molecular data ( Ketmaier et al., 2008) and to the morphological analyses presented here (Tables 4, 5), Rutilus vegariticus cannot be consistently separated from R.rutilus as all morphometric and meristic characters overlap (Tables 4, 5). Rutilus vegariticus (Lake Vegoritis, eastern Greece) is genetically very close to a number of central European and introduced northern Italian populations of R. rutilus ( Ketmaier et al., 2008) . Larmuseau et al. (2009) claimed that this population should be regarded as a distinct Rutilus rutilus lineage, possibly a junior synonym for the Ponto-Caspian R. heckelii . This seems not realistic biogeographically ( Bianco, 1990), since the Ponto-Caspian region is well differentiated from the circum-Mediterranean one; we believe that the most parsimonious explanation for the occurrence of Rutilus rutilus in the area is introduction by humans and, therefore, we consider this taxon as junior synonym of R. rutilus .

Distribution. Native to central Europe, the species has been introduced in several circum-Mediterranean ichthyogeographical districts. In northern Italy, the species has been introduced in the Po basin and in many subalpine lakes where it compete with the native Rutilus pigus and Leucos aula ; in central Italy introductions are known for the Tiber and Arno rivers and for lakes Montedoglio and Corbara, where it caused the disappearance of the endemic Sarmarutilus rubilio .