Paraphanius orontis (Aksiray, 1948)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 757-760

Paraphanius orontis

Common name. Asi killifish.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Paraphanius by: ○ male black or dusty grey with roundish silvery spots on flank not organised in vertical series / ○ silvery spots large, distinct, well isolated from each other, without or with few fine, powder-like dots / ○ female with pale-brown marbled pattern on flank / ○ female with pale-brown stripe between vertical of dorsal-base and caudal base / ○ female with a line of silvery scales above and below stripe on caudal peduncle / ○ pelvic reaching to anal origin in adult male / ○ pre-dorsal distance 57–61 % SL / ○ pre-anal distance 62–65 % SL / ○ interorbital distance 39–45 % HL. Size up to 43 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lower Orontes drainage downstream to former Lake Amik. Introduced to lower Manavgat drainage east of Antalya (not shown in map).

Habitat. Lakes, slow-flowing rivers, and canals.

Biology. Live up to 3 years, mature in a few months, usually late in year of birth. Males establish territories along banks, usually in dense vegetation, defending against rivals.

Females spawn with one or more males, usually in vegetation close to surface. Individual females produce several clutches in one day. Feeds on algae, detritus, and small invertebrates.

Conservation status. VU; found in fewer than 10 independent populations, some of which are declining.

Further reading. Akşıray 1948 (description).

The Orontes, a composite river. Tectonic activities significantly modify the river system of the Levant. The Jordan, the Litani, and the Orontes have a particularly troubled history, repeatedly ending in endorheic, terminal lakes. These rivers were connected and disconnected from each other and the Euphrates or drained into the Mediterranean through short, temporary outlets in the coastal mountain ranges. The Orontes is the longest river in the Levant, with a length of 600 km. It has its source in the Ayn az-Zarqa spring in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, from where it

flows north through Syria to Türkiye and into the Mediterranean. Two major tributaries, the Afrin and the Karasu, originate in Türkiye and flow south to meet the Orontes at the former Lake Amik. The history of the Orontes is as interesting as it is complicated. During the Upper Miocene and early Pliocene, the current-day lower Orontes was the only river flowing into the Mediterranean. The upper and middle parts of the Orontes flowed independently to the Euphrates. The current-day endorheic Qweiq was a tributary of the middle Orontes when it was still connected to the Euphrates. During the Lower Pleistocene, the al-Ghab Valley, which was formed during the Miocene, subsided, uplifting the Gabal az-Zawiyah Mountains. The uplifting of Gabal az-Zawiyah, which extended toward the Palmyra fold belt, severed the connections between the Proto-Orontes and the Euphrates. Nevertheless, the connection between the Qweiq and the Euphrates remained intact and only dried out in the early Holocene. At that time, the present Orontes consisted of three independent rivers separated from each other by mountain plateaus.

The upper river originated in Lebanon and discharged into the current-day Nar al Kebir South. The middle sector, represented by the al-Ghab basin at the time, had its outflow in the Nahr Marqīyah, today one of Syria’s small coastal rivers. There is evidence that it was also connected to the Nahr al-Kabir North, another coastal river of the present day, via the Nahr al-Abyad, whose upper reaches were at that time a source of the Nahr al-Kabir North. The lower course, which opened to the Mediterranean following a tectonic subsidence, allowed the coastal Küçük Orontes to flow to Lake Amik. All three parts had been endorheic for some time and formed large lakes before being connected. The water of the huge spring areas in today’s lower Orontes and the Afrin and Karasu flows drained into the large Lake Amik, forming an endorheic basin. The waters of the Middle sector formed extensive terminal lakes and marshes of al-Ghab and Aharne following the disconnection of this area from the Nahr al Kabir north. The upper sector of the Orontes formed Lake Homs following the disconnection of this area from the Nahr al Kabir south. The basaltic extrusions that erupted during the Quaternary separated the Orontes from the coastal rivers. The confluence of the three formerly separated segments of the Orontes is relatively recent, around 6000 years ago. It was caused by retrogressive erosion.

The recent joining of the different sectors of the Orontes is still reflected in its faunal composition. For example, Garra variabilis is only known from the middle and upper sectors. The northern sector is restricted to the Nahr al-Kabir South, Alburnus magnificus , Oxynoemacheilus hamwii , O. amanos , and Pseudophoxinus turani are endemic to this sector. In contrast, Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is limited to the southernmost Orontes. In the widely distributed and ubiquitous Paraphanius killifishes, three distinct mtDNA lineages have been identified, corresponding to P. orontis in the northern Orontes, P. mento in the southern Orontes, and a potentially undescribed species in between, as well as in some adjacent coastal streams. Further reading. Alwan 2010 (geology and biogeography).

Paraphanius similis ; Ereğli, Türkiye; female, 31 mm SL.

Paraphanius similis ; Ereğli, Türkiye; male; 28 mm SL. Paraphanius similis ; lower Seyhan; Türkiye; female,~ 25 mm SL.

Paraphanius similis ; Zengen, Türkiye; male, ~ 30 mm SL.