Barbus lacerta Heckel, 1843

Saad, Adib, Çiçek, Erdoğan, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil & Eagderi, Soheil, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Syria: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5350 (1), pp. 1-62 : 20

Barbus lacerta Heckel, 1843 [N]—Lizard barbell; Roumi

Taxonomy. Original description: Barbus lacerta Heckel, 1843a: 1044 [54] [Kueik (Qwaik) River near Aleppo, Syria; lectotype: NMW 54227-1; lectotype selected by Bogutskaya in Banarescu & Bogutskaya (2003: 251) but not at this time (Jan. 2004) acceptable according to the 1999 code].—Syrian synonyms: Barbus scincus Heckel, 1843 ; Barbus kosswigi Karaman 1971 .—Revisions: Berg (1949: 695 see Khaefi et al. (2017a).— Illustration: Heckel (1843b: pl. 2, fig. 1); Khaefi et al. (2017a: 102, figs. 6, 7).

Status in Syria. Recorded from Syria in original description by Heckel (1843: 1045, 1049) as Barbus lacerta and B. scincus ; subsequently reported by Beckman (1962: 103, 110) as B. lacerta and B. scincus .—Syrian material: MNHN, NMW, SMF, ZMB.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Syria: Euphrates River basin.—Distribution in River Basin: 1-Dajleh & Khabour, 2-Euphrates & Aleppo.—General distribution: Asia Minor and Middle East: Euphrates and Tigris River basins ( Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq).—Distribution in Ecoregion: 441-Lower Tigris & Euphrates, 442-Upper Tigris & Euphrates.—Habitat: This species inhabits mountain and piedmont zones in streams and small rivers with fast, clear, and well-oxygenated water and gravel substrate. It is usually common in small streams and absent from large rivers. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Locally commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Syria: Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023).—Threats: ABS, CLI, CON, EUT, HAB.—Moderate sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered as a keystone species.—Decline status: Decreasing.—Moderate priority for conservation action.