Capoeta banarescui

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 120-122

Capoeta banarescui

Common name. Colchic scraper.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Capoeta in Black Sea basin by: ○ two pairs of barbels / ○ 64–77 total lateral-line scales / ○ 12–14 scale rows between lateral line and dorsal origin / ○ 8–9 scale rows between lateral line and anal origin / ○ 12–18 gill rakers / ○ 12–20 serrae on last unbranched dorsal ray / ○ eye diameter smaller than cheek length / ○ edge of lower jaw cornified / ○ lips narrow, not fleshy or pleated / ○ shape of lower jaw monomorphic, wide and straight in all individuals / ○ snout short and blunt. Size up to 350 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye and Georgia: Yeşilırmak drainage east to Inguri.

Habitat. A wide range of moderately to rapidly flowing streams and rivers with sand, gravel, and rock substrate. Spawns on coarse sand or gravel in flowing water.

Biology. Lives up to 12 years. Matures at 2 (male) or 3 (female) years. Spawns May−July. Feeds on detritus, algae, and invertebrates.

Conservation status. LC.

Further reading. Yıldırım & Aras 2000 (biology); Turan et al. 2006a (description); Bektaş et al. 2017 (phylogeny).

Capoeta barroisi ; Orontes drainage, Türkiye; individual with long dorsal ray, 155 mm SL.

Capoeta barroisi ; Orontes drainage, Syria; 200 mm SL.

Capoeta barroisi Habitat. Lakes , reservoirs, and larger lowland rivers. Common name. Orontes scraper. Likely to migrate to inflowing rivers or streams to spawn.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Capoeta Biology. Feeds on detritus, periphyton, and occasionally in Mediterranean and endorheic basins in Levant by: small invertebrates.

○ one pair of barbels / ○ 76–83 total lateral-line scales / Conservation status. EN; appears to be declining within its ○ flank silvery with many small black spots / ○ black spots small range. Restricted to a few localities in Orontes drainage on dorsal head smaller than on predorsal body / ○ pelvic– such as Tahtaköprü reservoir, lower Orontes, upper Afrin and hypural distance when carried forward, always falling in Lake Gölbaşı (Kırıkhan) in Türkiye and Qattinah reservoir in front of tip of snout / ○ last unbranched dorsal ray very Syria. However, the exact distribution should be reviewed.

strongly ossified, strongly serrated / ○ 26–29 gill rakers / Remarks. Individuals of C. barroisi with the last unbranched ○ predorsal keel not or very slightly elevated. Size up to dorsal ray as long as or longer than the head are often misiden- 320 mm SL. tified as C. trutta . Capoeta trutta does not occur in the Orontes.

Distribution. Türkiye and Syria: Orontes drainage. Further reading. Turan et al. 2008b (distribution, morphology).

Capoeta , a genus of hybrid origin? It has long been suspected that the relationship of Capoeta is with the Oriental algae scrapers of the genera Onychostoma , Semiplotus , and Scaphiodonichthys . Since, mitochondrial molecular markers have demonstrated that Capoeta is closely related to the genera Aulopyge , Barbus and Luciobarbus . All mitochondrial phylogenetic analyses indicate that Capoeta is nested within Luciobarbus . As is the case with the majority of Palearctic barbels, all Luciobarbus studied are tetraploid, with 100 chromosomes. Conversely, all Capoeta studied are hexaploid, with 150 chromosomes. The shift from tetraploidy to hexaploidy is a pivotal event in the evolution of Capoeta . Polyploidisation in fish is often associated with hybridisation, and it can be postulated that this was also the case in the origin of Capoeta . If a tetraploid mother (chromosomes in the egg: n = 2) and a diploid father (chromosome in the sperm cell: n = 1) (or vice versa) hybridise, the offspring is triploid ( n = 3) and is likely to be sterile. It can be postulated that triploids cannot produce viable gametes.

It is plausible that these hybrids were sufficiently abundant in a certain situation to mate with each other and were occasionally able to produce mitotic gametes, i.e., gametes without meiotic division. These eggs and sperm should have been triploid ( n = 3), and after fertilisation, a new fish with an even number of chromosomes, here six, would result. This hexaploid fish could then spawn normally with the other hexaploid hybrids, which might have constituted the initial step of the new lineage, the genus Capoeta . Support for this hybridisation event is further strengthened by nuclear DNA evidence from the RAG1 gene which, together with mitochondrial markers, suggests a biparental genomic contribution. While the mitochondrial data confirm Luciobarbus as the maternal source, the RAG1 tree indicates a mixed ancestry, consistent with an ancient Cyprinion-like paternal lineage, and reinforces the role of polyploidisation in the evolution of Capoeta . These hybridisation and polyploidisation events may have enabled the hybrids to occupy a different ecological niche than their parents, resulting in the evolution of reproductive isolation from their parents. Further reading. Yang et al. 2015 (hybrid origin).

Capoeta bergamae ; Bakacak, Türkiye; 145 mm SL.