Turcinoemacheilus minimus Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh, Özulug, Geiger & Freyhof, 2014
Ceyhan loach
Turcinoemacheilus minimus
photo by Kaya, C.

Family:  Nemacheilidae (Brook loaches)
Max. size:  3.8 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; freshwater
Distribution:  Asia: upper Euphrates drainage in Turkey.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 6-7; Anal soft rays: 5-5. This species is distinguished from all congeners in the Middle East by the following combination of characters: more slender and longer caudal peduncle (caudal peduncle length 19.5-21.0 % SL vs. 17.7-19.0 in Turcinoemacheilus kosswigi); more anterior position of the anus, which is in the middle (or in front) of the distance between the pelvic-fin and the anal-fin origins (vs. behind the middle in T. hafezi and T. bahaii); very small size, up to 3.8 cm SL observed (vs. larger in all other species); and ten fixed nucleotide substitutions in the mtDNA COI barcode region studied, one of them non-silent and thus leading to an amino-acid change from isoleucine to valine (Ref. 95534).
Biology:  The Göksu at the type locality of the species has about 30 m width, substrate consisting of coarse gravel and boulders, and fast-running water (Ref. 95534).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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