Phoxinellus

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 agenus 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 when compared to Cyprinus phoxinus.

Charcteristics

Phoxinellus species are small fishes with standard lengths that are typically less than Template:Cvt. 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 6+1⁄2 and 8+1⁄2 and there is no connection between sensory canals of the preoperculim and jaw with the one below the eyes.

Distribution and habitat

Phoxinellus minnows are found in southeastern Europe where they are endemic to the Balkans where they are found in karstic streams. The Dinaric minnow and the Mostar minnow are found in Bosnia & Herzegovina and the Damatian minnow in Croatia.

Conservation status

Phoxinellus minnows each have restricted ranges and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies each of the as Endangered.