Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Gunther, 1874)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 241

Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi

Common name. Binni.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from superficially similar Carasobarbus and Arabibarbus by: ● no barbels / ○ 7−9½, usually 8½, branched dorsal rays / ○ 5½ branched anal rays / ○ lower lip without median lobe or pad / ○ body depth 28−35 % SL. Size up to 470 mm SL and 4 kg.

Distribution. Southern part of Euphrates and Tigris drainage. Iran: Hor Al Azim and Shadegan marshes and lower parts of Zohreh, Karkheh, and Karun. Syria: Asad reservoir and other large reservoirs (probably introduced). Iraq: Shatt-al Arab/ Arvand and lower part of Euphrates, Tigris, Sirvan, including Al-Hammar Marsh and Huwazah Marsh, Lakes Saniyah, Habbaniyah, Tharthar, and Razzazah, and reservoirs Al Qadisiyah and Dukan (some probably introduced).

Habitat. Large rivers, lakes, and marshes, usually in stagnant water with dense vegetation in salinities up to 19 ‰. Spawns in stagnant water, usually on vegetation.

Biology. Lives up to 9 years. Usually spawns first at 2−4 years and 210−300 mm SL, on plants in February−April. Comes to spawning sites at dusk and dawn. Eggs are yellow and sticky. Mostly herbivorous, feeding on algae and plants. Conservation status. VU; declined in recent years in all Iraqi and Iranian marshes and now virtually absent from rivers. Large populations restricted to Huwazah Marsh in Iraq and Shadegan Marsh in Iran. Few populations introduced in reservoirs in Syria.

Remarks. Next to Tenualosa ilisha , it is considered the tastiest fish from the Iraqi marshes.

Further reading. Karaman 1971 (generic description); Ekmekçi & Bănărescu 1998 (description); Coad 2010a (biology); Borkenhagen 2014 (phylogeny); Yang et al. 2015 (phylogeny); Coad 2021a (biology, morphology).