Oxynoemacheilus cemali

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 494-495

Oxynoemacheilus cemali

Common name. Çoruh loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Black Sea basin by: ○ suborbital groove present in male / ○ axillary pelvic lobe present / ○ a median incision in upper lip in most individuals / ○ lateral line complete / ○ caudal deeply emarginate / ○ dorsal adipose crest on caudal peduncle absent / ○ tip of pectoral almost reaching vertical through dorsal origin in male / ○ 7–15 dark-grey saddles on back, 3–7 in front of dorsal origin / ○ 9–15 irregularly shaped dark-grey bars on flank posterior to dorsal origin in most individuals / ○ colour pattern on flank not interrupted by whitish lateral line / ○ caudal–peduncle length 18–21 % SL / ○ caudal–peduncle depth 10–13 % SL. Size up to 95 mm SL.

Distribution. Çoruh drainage in Türkiye and Georgia, as well as in upper part of Doğankent stream, a coastal river in Eastern Black Sea basin.

Habitat. Moderately fast-flowing waters in streams with gravel substrate.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Further reading. Turan et al. 2019a (description); Kuljanishvili et al. 2020 (distribution).

Oxynoemacheilus ceyhanensis ; Ceyhan drainage, Türkiye; 50 mm SL.