Salmo abanticus, Tortonese, 1954

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 627

Salmo abanticus

Common name. Abant trout.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Salmo in Marmara and Black Sea basins by: ● flank silvery in life with many black spots and polygonal blotches much larger than pupil scattered on whole flank in individuals larger than 210 mm SL / ● no red spots on flank in individuals larger than about 210 mm SL / ○ maxilla short, reaching slightly behind posterior êye margin in male larger than about 230 mm SL / ○ 103–121 lateral-line scales counted until end of hypural complex / ○ 26–28 scale rows between dorsal origin and lateral line. Size up to 500 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lake Abant basin. Introduced into several ponds and reservoirs in Türkiye for recreational fishing; establishment remains uncertain except for a confirmed population in Ulugöl ( Ordu Province).

Habitat. Lacustrine, spawns in springs in lake itself and in lake tributaries.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. VU; situation appears to be relatively stable, but species may be conservation dependent, and a

Salmo aestivalis ; Lake Sevan, Armenia; ~ 200 mm SL.© J. SchÖffmann.

stock of this species is maintained in captivity to produce juveniles for stocking.

Remarks. Genomic data support recognising this species as distinct from S. labrax and S. rizeensis .

Further reading. Tortonese 1954 (description); Uysal & Alpbaz 2003 (artificial reproduction); Turan et al. 2010 (diagnosis); Hashemzadeh Segherloo et al. 2021 (genomic data).