Capoeta pestai

Common name. Long-snout scraper.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Capoeta in Central Anatolia and Mediterranean basin by: ● edge of lower jaw arched, not cornified / ● lips fleshy / ● snout long, pointed / ○ one pair of barbels / ○ last unbranched dorsal ray strongly ossified, as long or longer than head in juveniles smaller than 80 mm, shorter in adults, its posterior edge of with many serrae / ○ 83–92 total lateral-line scales / ○ 16–18 gill rakers / ○ usually 8½ branched dorsal rays. Size up to 400 mm SL.

Distribution . Türkiye: Lake Eğirdir and Beyşehir basins, Melendiz (Ihlara Valley) and Yeşildere (Karaman) drainages in Central Anatolia.

Habitat. Streams with moderately fast-flowing or almost stagnant water. Regularly entering lakes.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. VU; remaining populations mostly in streams. Formerly a predominantly lacustrine species, migrating to lake tributaries to spawn. Since the introduction of Sander lucioperca, few individuals migrate to the lakes, but the situation has improved due to overfishing of Sander .

Remarks. Eggs are toxic. According to one report, diarrhea, vomiting and diaphoresis were reported 4.5 h after ingestion of ovaries. Capoeta pestai and C. mauricii are indistinguishable by molecular characters (COI, cytochrome B) and morphological characters proposed to distinguish the two species could not be confirmed. Capoeta mauricii is treated as a synonym of C. pestai .

Further reading. Küçük et al. 2009a (morphology, distribution, description of C. mauricii); Küçük et al. 2009b (conservation); Geiger et al. 2014, Bektaş et al. 2017 (phylogeny); Özeren et al. 2019 (distribution, synonyms); Bayçelebi et al. 2020a (distribution).