Schizothorax esocinus Heckel, 1838

[N]—Chirruh snowtrout

Taxonomy. Original description: Schizothorax esocinus Heckel, 1838: 48, pl. 9 [Kabul River at Koti-i-Ashruf (Kashmir; holotype: NMW 9011).— Afghanistan synonyms: Schizothorax montanus Zugmayer, 1909; Racoma nobilis McClelland, 1842; Schizothorax punctatus Day, 1877; Racoma esocina (Heckel, 1838); Schizothoraichthys esocinus (Heckel, 1838); Schizopyge esocinus (Heckel, 1838); Schizocypris esocinus (Heckel, 1838) .—Revisions: None.—Illustration: Heckel (1838: pl. 9).

Status in Afghanistan. First record from Afghanistan by McClelland (1842); confirmed by Coad (1981: 12; 2014: 213; 2015: 228).—Afghanistan materials: None.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Afghanistan: Kabul and Helmand River drenaiges.—General distribution: South Asia: Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.—Habitat: This species occurs in clear, cold-water streams over stony gravel beds and feeds on aquatic worms and fish. Mature adults migrate to incoming streams to breed on gravel and sandy beds, and fry occur in quiet parts of streams or inside branches of main streams. This species migrates towards cold water streams to spawn, after which they return to the warmer lake. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation status in Afghanistan: Unknown.—IUCN: VU (Rafique et al. 2022e).—Threats: CON, HAB, FIT, ABS, COM, EUT.—High sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Significant decline.—High priority for conservation action.