Carasobarbus chantrei (Sauvage, 1882)

Borkenhagen, Kai & Krupp, Friedhelm, 2013, Taxonomic revision of the genus Carasobarbus Karaman, 1971 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae), ZooKeys 339, pp. 1-53 : 13-17

Carasobarbus chantrei (Sauvage, 1882)

Labeobarbus chantrei Sauvage 1882: 165.

Barynotus verhoeffi Battalgil 1942: 292.

Material.

Type material. Lectotype of Labeobarbus chantrei : MNHN A-3866, Turkey, Amik Gölü [36°12'24"N, 36°9'26"E], H. Chantre, 1881 (designated by Krupp 1985a).

Paralectotypes of Labeobarbus chantrei : MNHN A-3937, 1, same data as lectotype. - MNHN A-3938, 2; MNHN A-3939, 3; MNHN A-3940, 1, Syria, Ḩamāh [35°9'0"N, 36°43'59"E], H. Chantre, 1881.

Non-type material. Orontes River drainage. MNHN B-2977, 1, Syria, Orontes, A. Gruvel, 1829. - BMNH 1934.1.25:4, 1, Syria, Orontes. - FSJF 2311, 11, Turkey, Karasu Çayı below dam of Tahtaköprü Barajı (36°51'7"N, 36°41'10"E), M. Özulug and J. Freyhof, 7 Nov 2007. - SMF 17115, 8, Turkey, Orontes, 8 km E of Hatay (36°17'N, 36°11'E), J. Winkler and B. Koster, 20 Sep 1982. - CMNFI 88-0019, 1, Turkey, 8 km southwest of Hatay (36°11'N, 36°3'E). - SMF 17110, 4, Turkey, tributary to Orontes (36°11'N, 36°3'E), F. Krupp, 23 Aug 1978. - SMF 17122, 2, Turkey, 2 km southeast of Samandağı (36°6'N, 35°58'E), F. Krupp, 23 Aug 1978. - FSJF uncatalogued, 16, Turkey, at Sinanlı (36°5'51"N, 36°4'43"E), M. Özulug and J. Freyhof, 8 Nov 2007. - SMF 33130, 40, Syria, near Mashra’a el Būz (35°57'3"N, 36°23'45"E), N. Alwan et al., 8 Oct 2008. - SMF 33131, 58, Syria, 'Ayn az Zarqa (35°56'40"N, 36°24'9"E), N. Alwan et al., 8 Oct 2008. - SMF 17107, 1, Syria, Jisr ash Shughūr (35°48'N, 36°19'E), F. Krupp, 20 Aug 1980. - SMF 17109, 2, Syria, main bridge at Jisr ash Shughūr (35°48'N, 36°19'E), F. Krupp, 19 Aug 1978. - CMNFI 88-0018, 4, Syria, 'Ayn Zaqa (35°27'N, 36°23'E). - SMF 17114, 1; SMF 17121, 7, Syria, 'Ayn Zaqa (35°27'N, 36°23'E), F. Krupp, 25-27 Mar 1979. - BMNH 1968.12.13:188-190, 3, Syria, spring lake at Qal‘at al Maḑīq [35°25'N, 36°23'E]. - SMF 17120, 7, Syria, aquaculture pond near Qal‘at al Maḑīq (35°25'N, 36°23'E), F. Krupp, 8 Aug 1978. - SMF 33132, 5, Syria, stream at Qal‘at al Jarras (35°19'49"N, 36°18'38"E), N. Alwan et al., 12 Oct 2008. - SMF 17111, 6, Syria, ‘Ašārna (35°17'N, 36°19'E), F. Krupp, 11 Aug 1978. - SMF 17117, 5, Syria, near Shayzar (35°16'N, 36°34'E), F. Krupp, 27 Mar 1979. - SMF 24349, 3, Syria, Shayzar (35°16'N, 36°34'E), F. Krupp and W. Schneider, 17 Aug 1980. - SMF 17118, 1, Syria, 200 m below western outlet of Lake Homs (34°40'N, 36°37'E), F. Krupp and W. Schneider, 3 Aug 1978. - SMF 17119, 5, Syria, western outlet of Lake Homs (34°40'N, 36°37'E), F. Krupp and W. Schneider, 3 Aug 1978. - SMF 33133, 24, Syria, Lake Homs at Qaţţīnah (34°39'43"N, 36°37'6"E), N. Alwan et al., 13 Oct 2008.

Mediterranean coastal rivers. SMF 31669, 1; SMF 31670, 1, Syria, Nahr Marqīyah (35°1'50"N, 35°54'18"E), N. Alwan et al., 10 Oct 2008.

Tigris-Euphrates system. SMF 12966, 1, Turkey, Balıklıgöl at Şanlıurfa [37°8'52"N, 38°47'4"E], L. Lortet, 1884.

Diagnosis.

Two pairs of barbels, 31 to 38 scales in the lateral line and usually 14 to 16 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle, last unbranched dorsal-fin ray equal to or shorter than head.

Description.

The body is comparatively high-backed and laterally compressed in mid-sized specimens but low-backed and almost cylindrical in large specimens. In large specimens a pronounced nuchal hump is present, in smaller specimens it is only weakly developed or absent. The maximum body depth is at the origin of the dorsal fin. The head is short and blunt with a convex ventral profile and a slightly convex to straight dorsal profile (Figs 10, 11). The mouth is terminal or slightly sub-terminal with two pairs of short barbels (Table 2).The body depth is usually greater than the head length (Fig. 12).The eyes are slightly protuberant and lie at the end of the anterior half of the head. The morphometric characters are summarised in Table 1.

The dorsal fin usually has four unbranched and nine to 11 branched rays (Table 3). The last unbranched ray is ossified but not very thick and flexible in its distal part. It is usually shorter than the head (Fig. 4). The anal fin usually has three unbranched and five or six branched rays (Table 4).

There are 31 to 38 scales in the lateral line (Table 5), 4.5 to 6.5 scales above the lateral line (Table 6), four to six scales below the lateral line (Table 7) and 12 to 16 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle (Table 8). The scales are shown in Fig. 5.

The pharyngeal teeth count is 2.3.5-5.3.2 in two specimens, 2.3.5- in 11 specimens, -5.3.2 in two specimens and 1.3.5- in one specimen. The pharyngeal teeth are hooked at their tips (Fig. 6).

Small live specimens are silvery; larger specimens are silvery or bronze coloured and sometimes have yellow pectoral and ventral fins (Fig. 11). Small ethanol-preserved specimens are silvery with a somewhat darker back and a salmon pink hue. Juveniles have a dark lateral spot on the caudal peduncle. Ethanol-preserved adults are yellow-brown and the back is only slightly darker than the rest of the body (Fig. 10).

The maximum length observed in the material examined is 385 mm SL.

Carasobarbus chantrei differs from Carasobarbus apoensis , Carasobarbus canis , Carasobarbus exulatus , Carasobarbus luteus and Carasobarbus sublimus in having 31 to 38 scales in the lateral line vs. 27 to 32, 29 to 35, 26 to 32, 25 to 33 and 27 to 29 respectively and modally 14 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle vs. 12. It differs from Carasobarbus kosswigi and Carasobarbus sublimus in having a crescent-shaped lower lip without median lobe vs. a spatulate lower lip with median lobe and from Carasobarbus exulatus , Carasobarbus fritschii and Carasobarbus harterti in modally having 10 branched dorsal-fin rays vs. nine.

Distribution.

Carasobarbus chantrei occurs in the Orontes river drainage system (Fig. 7). Two juvenile specimens where collected in Nahr Marqīyah, a coastal river in Syria. This species had never before been reported from this location ( Krupp 1985a) and it has most likely been introduced by humans. Two potential records from Nahr Quwayq (MNHN A-3861, MGHN 3554) are discussed in Krupp (1985a, c). Locality data for MHNL 3554 are ambiguous ( Krupp 1985a). The locality for MNHN A-3861 is given as "Syria, Aleppo" in Krupp (1985a) and considered to be from Nahr Quwayq. The collection database of the MNHN gives "Origine: Syrie, localité: Alep, Milieu: Continent, Bassin hydrologique: Asi, Cours d’eau: Asi" as locality. As these data are contradictory, it is likely that the specimens do not come from the Nahr Quwayq, but from the Orontes (=Asi) and Carasobarbus chantrei does probably not occur in the Nahr Quwayq. A record from the Ceyhan Nehri ( Krupp 1985c) is not backed by specimens. Records from the Tigris-Euphrates basin are misidentified Carasobarbus luteus ( Krupp 1985a, Krupp and Schneider 1991) and the specimen from Balıklıgöl at Şanlıurfa in Turkey (SMF 12966) is probably mislabelled or was introduced there ( Krupp 1985a). It is not included in the map.

Habitats and biology.

Carasobarbus chantrei occurs in a wide range of habitats stretching from stagnant waters of lakes to rapidly flowing river courses.

Conservation status.

Carasobarbus chantrei is utilised as food fish locally but is increasingly replaced by carp ( Krupp 1985a). During a field survey in Syria in 2008, the species was still abundant in parts of the Orontes. However, large stretches of this river, especially in the Al Ghāb area, suffer heavily from water abstraction and pollution by sewage and domestic waste and are devoid of fish. The species is rated "Endangered B1ab(ii,iii)" by the IUCN ( Crivelli 2006b). The main threat is habitat degradation due to water extraction, pollution and drought ( Crivelli 2006b).

Remarks and discussion.

Carasobarbus chantrei was described from the Orontes and placed in Labeobarbus by Sauvage (1882). He transferred it to Barbus two years later ( Sauvage 1884). In 1942 Barynotus verhoeffi was described from Amik Gölü, Turkey ( Battalgil 1942). Ladiges (1960) erroneously synonymised Barynotus verhoeffi with Carasobarbus canis . Karaman (1971) synonymised Carasobarbus chantrei with Carasobarbus canis and thus transferred it to the genus Tor (sensu Karaman 1971). Fowler (1976) transferred Barynotus verhoeffi to the genus Barbellion . In 1985 Krupp redescribed Carasobarbus chantrei as a valid species and provisionally placed it into the genus Barbus sensu lato. He found the type series to be inhomogeneous (MNHN B-2889 are ' Barbus ' grypus) and designated MNHN A-3866 as lectotype of Carasobarbus chantrei ( Krupp 1985a). The 'Catalog of Fishes’ does not list MNHN B-2889 as types for Carasobarbus chantrei ( Eschmeyer 2011). Ekmekçi and Banarescu (1998) transferred the species to the genus Carasobarbus . Tsigenopoulos et al. (2010) used Barbus subgenus Carasobarbus .