Oxynoemacheilus panthera (Heckel, 1843)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 525-527

Oxynoemacheilus panthera

Common name. Damascus loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in southern Levant by: ○ caudal very slightly emarginate or truncate / ○ lateral line terminating before vertical of dorsal origin / ○ usually a prominent dorsal crest on caudal peduncle / ○ 8½–9½ branched dorsal rays / ○ anterior flank scaleless or with few isolated scales, caudal peduncle with densely set scales / ○ suborbital groove absent in male / ○ body depth at dorsal origin 20–25 % SL. Size up to 77 mm SL.

Distribution. Syria: Barada and Nahr al Awaj drainages west of Damascus; Lebanon: Litani drainage.

Habitat. Standing and slow-flowing waters of springs and streams with mud or gravel bottoms.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. EN; appears to be declining within its very small range.

Remarks. This species is usually identified in Litani as O. leontinae , a poorly known loach from the Jordan drainage. The few individuals analysed from the Litani draingae host the COI sequences of O. namiri .

Further reading. Krupp 1985d (description, distribution).

Oxynoemacheilus panthera ; spring of Barada, Syria; ~ 70 mm SL. Stream al Tammasiyyar in Syria is a habitat of Oxynoemacheilus panthera , O. insignis , and Pseudophoxinus drusensis .

Oxynoemacheilus pantheroides ; upper Jordan drainage, Israel; ~ 60 mm SL. © M. Ford.