Luciobarbus pectoralis (Heckel, 1843) [N]—Heckel’s Orontes barbell; Abou shadak

Taxonomy. Original description: Barbus pectoralis Heckel, 1843a: 1045 [55] [Orontes River, Syria; holotype:?NMW 54474].—Syrian synonyms: Barbus perniciosus Heckel, 1843; Barbus schejch (Heckel, 1843); Labeobarbus orontis Sauvage, 1882; Barbus orontis (Sauvage, 1882) .—Revisions: None.—Illustration: Heckel (1843b: pl. 2, fig. 2).

Status in Syria. Recorded from Syria in original description by Heckel (1843a: 1047, 1048) as Barbus pectoralis and B. perniciosus; subsequently reported by Gruvel (1931) as Barbus orontis; Beckman (1962: 107-109) as B. pectoralis and B. orontis .—Syrian material: BMNH, MCZ, MNHN, NMW.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Syria: Orontes River system.—Distribution in River Basin: 4-Orontes.— General distribution: Orontes River system in Turkey and Syria; Mediterranean watersheds of Turkey; Iraq.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 437-Orontes.—Habitat: This species inhabits a wide range of rivers and larger streams and also occurs in reservoirs, from which it migrates to inflowing streams and rivers for spawning. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Locally commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Syria: Unknown.—IUCN: LC (IUCN 2023).—Threats: There are many threats in the area, especially in Asi drainage where this species has lost major part of its range due to massive pollution and water abstraction. However, these threats are not strong enough all over the range to really affect this species.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Stable.—Low priority for conservation action.