Hemiculter leucisculus ( Basilewsky, 1855 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 19

Hemiculter leucisculus ( Basilewsky, 1855) [I] — Sharpbelly

Taxonomy. Original description: Culter leucisculus Basilewsky, 1855: 238 [Rivers flowing into Bay of Tschili (Chihli), Beijing (Peking), China; syntypes: ZIN 5272 (2)].— Iraq synonyms: None.—Revisions: Berg (1949: 808).—Illustration: Berg (1949: 809, fig. 553); Esmaeili et al. (2011: 3, fig. 2); Zareian et al. (2015: 15, fig. 5); Esmaeili & Abbasi (2021: fig. 346: 18.52); Radkhah et al. (2016).

Status in Iraq. First record from Iraq by Coad & Hussain (2007); confirmed by Al-Faisal et al. (2014); Abdullah & Abdullah (2018).—Iraq materials: None.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Euphrates River.—General distribution: East Asia; introduced elsewhere.—Habitat: This species is usually found in large and medium-sized rivers in shallow water over sandy bottoms, but sometimes occurs in pools along the bed of mountain streams; also abundant in ponds, lakes, and the backwaters of rivers. It is highly tolerant of water pollution. Freshwater, brackish.

Economic importance. LocWesternally commercially important.

Reasons of introduction. Fisheries: enhancement of wild stocks and sports fishing.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).