Paraphanius striptus ( Goren, 1974 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 471

Paraphanius striptus ( Goren, 1974) [N]—Killifish; Na’avit psusa

Taxonomy. Original description: Aphanius mento striptus Goren, 1974: 99 [Rosh Hanikra, springs near Amiqam, Israel; holotype: SMNHTAU 3280].— Israel synonyms: Aphanius striptus Goren, 1974 .—Revisions: Freyhof & Yoğurtçuoğlu (2020: 437).—Illustration: None.

Status in Israel. Recorded from Israel in the original description by Goren (1974: 99) as Aphanius mento striptus ; subsequently reported by Freyhof & Yoğurtçuoğlu (2020).—Israel material: HUJ, SMF.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: Rosh Hanikra and other coastal rivers—Distribution in River Basin: 1-Western Basin.—General distribution: South Asia: Middle East: Israel and southwestern Syria.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant.—Habitat: This species inhabits a wide range of springs, streams, and wetlands. Freshwater.

Economic importance. No commercial importance. Has the potential to be used as aquarium fish.

Conservation. Conservation status in Israel:Unknown.—IUCN:NE (2023).—Threats: Unknown.—High sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—High priority for conservation action.

Remarks. This species was described as subspecies, Aphnaius dispar striptus . There is probably no justification to elevate it to a specific level. Need to further study to eliminate this hypothesis.