Phoxinellus is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. These fishes are found in the Balkans.
Taxonomy
Phoxinellus was first used as a genus name by the Austrian ichthyologist Johann Jakob Heckel in 1843 when he described
Phoxinellus alepidotus, giving its type locality as
Livno, Bosnia. In 1859 or 1860,
Pieter Bleeker designated
P. alepidotus as the
type species of the genus. In 1863, Bleeker placed
P. alpeidotis in the new genus
Paraphoxinus, but this taxon is a synonym of
Phoxinellus.
Phoxinellus is classified within the subfamily
Leuciscinae of the family Leuciscidae.
Species
Phoxinellus contains the following species:
-
Phoxinellus alepidotus Heckel, 1843 (Dinaric minnow)
-
Phoxinellus dalmaticus Zupančič & Bogutskaya, 2000 (Dalmatian minnow)
-
Phoxinellus pseudalepidotus Bogutskaya & Zupančič, 2003 (Mostar minnow)
Etymology
Phoxinellus is a diminutive of
Phoxinus, the genus of the "true" Eurasian minnows. It is thought that Heckel may have coined this name due to the small size of
P. alepidotus compared to
Cyprinus phoxinus.
Charcteristics
Phoxinellus species are small fishes with
that are typically less than . They have 5 upper
pharyngeal teeth and 4 or 4 lower pharyngeal teeth. The number of branched fin rays in the dorsal and anal fin is relatively low, at between and , and there is no connection between sensory canals of the preoperculum and jaw with the one below the eyes.
Distribution and habitat
Phoxinellus minnows are found in southeastern Europe, where they are
Endemism to the Balkans. They are found in karstic streams. The Dinaric minnow and the Mostar minnow are found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Damatian minnow in Croatia.
Conservation status
Phoxinellus minnows have restricted ranges, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies each of them as Endangered.
