Cobitis hellenica

Cobitis hellenica is a species of ray-finned fish in the true loach family (Cobitidae). It is endemic to Greece.[1]

Cobitis hellenica
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cobitidae
Genus:	Cobitis
Species:	C. hellenica
Binomial name
Cobitis hellenica Economidis & Nalbant, 1996

It belongs to the subgenus Bicanestrinia, together with C. arachthosensis, C. meridionalis and C. trichonica. According to cladistic analysis of DNA sequence data (nDNA RAG-1 and S7 ribosomal protein intron 1, and mtDNA cytochrome b), the first of these is an extremely close relative and might arguably be included in the present species. C. arachthosensis is only found in the Arachthos River basin, parapatric to the range of C. hellenica.[2]

Its natural habitats are the Louros and Thyamis River basins. It is threatened by habitat loss.[3]

Footnotes

1. Crivelli (2005b)
2. Crivelli (2005a,b), Perdices et al. (2008)
3. Crivelli (2005b), Perdices et al. (2008)

References

• Crivelli, A.J. (2005a). "Cobitis arachthosensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2005a. Retrieved 19 July 2007.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
• Crivelli, A.J. (2005b). "Cobitis hellenica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2005b. Retrieved 19 July 2007.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
• FishBase (2008): Cobitis species. Version of 2008-MAY-03. Retrieved 2008-AUG-15.
• Perdices, Anabel; Bohlen, Jörg & Doadrio, Ignacio (2008): The molecular diversity of adriatic spined loaches (Teleostei, Cobitidae). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 46(1): 382–390. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.007 (HTML abstract)