Oxynoemacheilus amanos

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 482-483

Oxynoemacheilus amanos

Common name. Hassa loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Cilicia and northern Levant by: ○ suborbital groove absent in male / ○ caudal deeply emarginate / ○ lateral line incomplete with 23–45 pores, terminating between vertical of dorsal origin and anus / ○ 10–13 pores in infraorbital canal / ○ flank pattern mottled or with

Oxynoemacheilus amanos ; spring İncesu at Hassa; 66 mm SL.

many, very narrow, irregularly shaped and set, pale-brown bars, usually flank-bars separated from middorsal saddles and not meeting contralaterals / ○ flank and back posterior to dorsal base covered by scales / ○ body depth at dorsal origin 1.2–1.4 times in HL. Size up to 71 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Spring İncesu at Hassa, a northern tributary of Orontes.

Family Nemacheilidae 483

Many freshwater fish have small distribution areas in West Asia, but few are as small as the spring İncesu, the only habitat of Oxynoemacheilus amanos .

Habitat. Only known from one spring but expected to occur in nearby slow-flowing streams.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. CR; known only from a small population in a very small, unprotected spring. Expected to decline.

Remarks. Related to O. cilicicus from adjacent Ceyhan drainage.

Further reading. Kaya et al. 2021 (description).

Oxynoemacheilus anatolicus ; Düğer,Lake Burdur basin, Türkiye; 55 mm SL.