Cobitis aliyeae, Freyhof, Baycelebi & Geiger, 2018

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 439-440

Cobitis aliyeae

Common name. Cilician 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 and Z4 almost always well separated from each other / ○ Z1 and Z2 always well distinguished / ○ 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 / ○ no pigmentation or very few isolated brown spots below Z4 and on lower caudal–peduncle / ○ mid-dorsal pigmentation consisting in a series of 10–14 dark-brown, roundish blotches / ○ prepelvic length 56–60 % SL in female / ○ interorbital distance 7–11 % HL in male / ○

Conservation status. LC; extirpated from Küçük Menderes. Remarks. Often occurs in sympatry with C. fahireae . Further reading. Freyhof et al. 2018c (description).

caudal–peduncle length 11–14 % SL in female. Size up to 65 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lower Tarsus, Seyhan and Ceyhan drainages.

Habitat. Streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, usually on sand or fine gravel in slow or moderate fast-flowing waters.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Cobitis aliyeae , C. evreni , and C. erkakanae are three Cobitis species found in the Ceyhan drainage. All three species occur in allopatry within the drainage, C. aliyeae in lower Ceyhan and C. evreni in upper reaches of Ceyhan.

Further reading. Freyhof et al. 2018c (description).

440 Family Cobitidae

Cobitis amphilekta ; Caspian Sea near Port Il’icha, Azerbaijan; male, 41 mm SL. © E. Vasil’eva.