Cobitis anabelae, Freyhof, Baycelebi & Geiger, 2018

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 441

Cobitis anabelae

Common name. Hatay spined loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Cobitis in Mediterranean basin east of Eşen by: ○ flank pattern well organised in four Gambetta zones / ○ anterior to dorsal origin, blotches in Z2 usually fused into short, irregularly shaped stripes, or forming a mottled band of irregularly shaped, small blotches and spots / ○ Z1 and Z2 usually fused into a mottled band / ○ Z2 with small brown spots, always much smaller than blotches in Z3, much smaller than eye or pupil diameter / ○ Z2 and Z3 well separated / ○ Z4 formed by one series of distinct blotches, fused into a stripe in few individuals / ○ mid-dorsal pigmentation consisting in a series of 7–11 dark-brown, roundish blotches / ○ no pigmentation or very few isolated brown spots below Z4 and on lower caudal–peduncle / ○ interorbital

Cobitis avicennae ; Karkheh drainage, Iran; ~ 90 mm SL.