Anatolichthys saldae (Aksiray, 1955)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 712-713

Anatolichthys saldae

Common name. Salda killifish.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Anatolichthys by ○ 1–3 lines of large, usually not or only slightly overlapping scales on midlateral flank / ● usually no or few isolated scales on flank, up to 47–52 total, not or very slightly overlapping scales along lateral series / ● male with black bars wider at dorsal part, narrower at ventral part / ○ no or few isolated scales on flank except midlateral row / ○ scales on back and belly absent / ○ lateral head profile almost quadratic, lower jaw large, directing upward / ○ body depth 4.0–5.3 times in standard length. Size up to 50 mm SL.

Distribution. Türkiye: Lake Salda.

Habitat. Lacustrine. Forages in open water; spawns on gravel beds near shore. Overwinters in deeper parts of lake. Lake Salda is oligotrophic with a very high concentration of magnesium carbonate (MgCO 3).

Biology. Live up to 3 years, mature within a year. Pelagic and offshore, outside spawning season. Non-nuptial males and females form large schools, even during spawning season spawns April to September. Males establish territories along shore, usually between gravel and rocks, which

they defend against rivals. Female spawn with one or more males on gravel bottoms. Few eggs are laid in the substrate during a spawning event. Individual females may produce several clutches in a single day. Feeds on small benthic and planktonic invertebrates.

Conservation status. CR; Water abstraction and reduced rainfall due to climate change are critical threats to salinity levels in Lake Salda and could lead to its rapid extinction in the near future.

Remarks. Often treated as a synonym of A. splendens .

Further reading. Akşıray 1955 (description); Geiger et al. 2014 (phylogeny); Yoğurtçuoğlu & Freyhof 2018 (identification); Yoğurtçuoğlu 2019 (reproduction).

Scale reduction in Anatolichthys and Kosswigichthys . The presence of scales on fish is a protective mechanism that safeguards the integumentary system from injury. However, this adaptation comes at a cost in terms of energy expenditure. This is evidenced by the observation that many cavefish, which inhabit environments with reduced levels of light, have reduced scales. Similarly, pelagic Aphaniids that inhabit mineral-rich lakes appear relatively safe from predators and flooding hazards. Consequently, they have also reduced their scales. The reduction of scales in Anatolichthys and Kosswigichthys is not a genetic adaptation to the high concentration of sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and magnesium carbonate in the lakes in which they live. There was no difference in the salt tolerance of scale-reduced fish and normally scaled fish observed in experiments. The reduction is a consequence of the absence of stabilizing selection. Mutants exhibiting all variations in squamation survive, increasing the variability of the squamation. This may lead to the complete loss of scales, potentially saving energy by not developing and maintaining scales. Further reading. Grimm 1980 (scale reduction).