engleski

Peculiar occurrence of Cobitis bilineata Canestrini, 1865 and Sabanejewia larvata (De Filippi, 1859) (Cobitidae, Actinopteri) in Danube River basin in Croatia

Plitvice Lakes National Park, the most famous national park in Croatia, is located in the karstic region of Croatia, but belongs to the Black Sea watershed. Its ichthyofauna is mostly comprised of Danubian elements and it was not considered to comprise any endemic species. Although representatives of the family Cobitidae (loaches) were reported for Plitvice Lakes in some older reports, they were usually determined as C. elongatoides. In this paper, we bring results of more detailed analysis (on morphological, as well as molecular genetic level) of loaches from the Plitvice Lakes. Surprisingly, all analyses conducted confirmed that they actually belong to two species in two different genera that were previously never reported outside the Adriatic watershed: C. bilineata and Sabanejewia larvata. Both species have restricted distribution ranges: S. larvata was thought to be distributed only in Italy, while proposed distribution range of C. bilineata comprised Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland and France. Since this is the first record of S. larvata in Croatia and the second for C. bilineata (previously it was known only from the Zrmanja River in Dalmatia), both species are now listed as Natura 2000 target species for Plitvice Lakes National Park, in order to ensure their adequate protection. Interestingly, although sequences of both species are similar to Italian C. bilineata and S. larvata, they are not the same (with the exception of one S. larvata haplotype), opposing the hypothesis of anthropogenic translocation.

Italian golden loach ; Italian spined loach ; morphology ; Natura 2000 ; phylogeny ; Plitvice Lakes National Park

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