Alburnus, Rafinesque, 1820

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 304-307

Alburnus

The genus Alburnus (43 species) is a large group of smallto medium-sized fishes widely distributed in Europe, West, and Central Asia. In West Asia, Alburnus , with 24 species, is the second-largest genus of Leuciscids after Pseudophoxinus . Previous studies have overestimated the species diversity of Alburnus , as several shemayas of the A. chalcoides group have been recognised as separate species based on morphometric and meristic differences. All these populations are closely related, and recent research only partly confirms the differences proposed before and/or found the character states to be more overlapping than proposed. Therefore, Asian shemayas from the Aegean, Marmara, and Black Sea basins are placed in A. derjugini . The Central Asian A. taeniatus had been reported from the Hari in Iran. However, as the identification of this fish could not be confirmed, it is excluded from the coverage of this book.

Molecular characters group the species of Alburnus into three major species complexes, which may be recognised as separate genera in the future. True bleaks form one group, spotted bleaks belong to the second group, and Shah Kuli’s belong to a third group. Sunbleaks of the genus Leucaspius and saramugos of the genus Anaecypris are closely related to, or even nested within, Alburnus . Alburnus are typically pelagic open-water dwelling fish that feed on plankton, drifting invertebrates, and small terrestrial arthropods that have fallen on the water surface. They are often common or very common and play important roles in the ecosystems they inhabit. In general, Alburnus are slender, silvery, herring-like fish with a superior or terminal mouth, a partly or completely open keel between the anus and the pelvic base, and a long anal fin with more than 9½ branched rays. However, several species do not fit this description, as they have fewer anal rays, no ventral keel or the keel completely

Alburnus taeniatus ; Syr Darya drainage, Uzbekistan; ~ 70 mm SL. Alburnus cf. taeniatus ; Hari drainage, Iran; ~ 45 mm SL.

covered by scales, and a clearly terminal or even subterminal mouth. Based on anatomical studies, these species were previously classified within the genus Petroleuciscus .

However, subsequent molecular studies led to their reclassification within the genus Alburnus .

Alburnus adanensis ; Seyhan, Türkiye; ~ 67 mm SL. © M. Özuluğ.