Alburnoides, Jeitteles, 1861

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 283-285

Alburnoides

Spirlins are small fishes that inhabit hill-stream habitats throughout West and Central Asia, extending east to the Amu Darya drainage. They also occur throughout Europe, west to France. Spirlins are superficially similar to some Alburnus species, particularly in turbid waters, where the lateral stripe and the dark-grey marks along the lateral line are poorly expressed. The orange bases of the paired fins are a useful indicator for distinguishing Alburnoides from Alburnus (which usually lack orange at the paired fin bases) in the field. Despite superficial similarities, both genera appear to be distantly related. All spirlin species

are superficially similar, and only three species were classified as valid before the year 2000: the widespread A. bipunctatus , as well as A. oblongus and A. taeniatus (both from Central Asia). Since A. oblongus and A. taeniatus were transferred to Alburnus , 22 new Alburnoides species have been described, and 11 species revalidated from the list of synonyms. Currently, 34 species are recognised, 22 of which are found in West Asia. Alburnoides varentsovi , found on the northern slope of the Kopetdag Mountains in Turkmenistan, is an additional species in the region. It is not considered in this book. It can be challenging to distinguish between species of spirlins, and their distribution can assist in the identification, as they are all strictly allopatric. Further reading. Matveyev et al. 2017; Sheraliev & Peng 2021 (placement of A. taeniatus and A. oblongus to Alburnus ).

Alburnoides coskuncelebii ; Büyük Melen drainage, Türkiye; ~ 75 mm SL.