Environ Biol Fish (2008) 81:25–26 DOI 10.1007/s10641-006-9163-8
THREATENED FISHES OF THE WORLD
Threatened fishes of the world: Chondrostoma scodrense Elvira, 1987 (Cyprinidae)
Benigno Elvira Æ Ana Almodo´ var
Received: 2 August 2006 / Accepted: 3 October 2006 / Published online: 14 November 2006 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006
Keywords Cyprinidae Á Chondrostoma Á Conservation Á Threatened fish
Common name: Skadarsko skobalj (Serbian). Njile¨ e Shkodre¨s (Albanian), Skadar nase (Eng- lish). Conservation status: Extinct (EX; Crivelli 2005). Described from nine specimens caught 125 years ago, in spite of intensive investigations (P.G. Bianco in 1999 and J. Freyhof in 2003, by F. Steindachner on August–September 1881, pers.comm.), no specimens have since been consist of nine C. scodrense (12%) specimens and recorded, so assumed Extinct (Reynolds et al. 66 of C. nasus (88%). Meristic features of 60 2005). Identification: D III + 8–9, A III + 9–10, V specimens from Skadar Lake confirmed them as I + 8, P I + 15–18, pharyngeal teeth 6-5 or 5–5, LL C. nasus Ivanovic´ (1973). Habitat and ecology: 51–59, gill rakers 14–17. Reaches 135 mm SL, Mostly a lacustrine species. Reproduction: Pre- mouth slightly arched. The horny layer of the sumed that C. scodrense, and C. nasus, went up lower lip is well developed but rather thin. Dorsal the river Rijeka in spring for spawning. Threats: and anal fins are slightly concave in outline Not clear. Commercial fisheries of Chondrostoma (Elvira 1987). Drawing by B. Elvira. Distribution: species (both C. nasus and C. scodrense) in the Formerly restricted to the Lake Skadar, and to Skadar Lake declined dramatically during the the River Moracˇa-Rijeka, a north-western river 1970s, the stocks were considered over-exploited system tributary of that lake, in Albania and (Stein et al. 1975), and C. scodrense assumed to be Montenegro (Elvira 1987, 1997). Abundance: In Extinct (Maric 1995). Population declines of both the past, it seems to be rather less common than nase species from over-fishing, habitat loss and the congeneric Chondrostoma nasus (L., 1758) in pollution. Conservation action: None. Albania the lake and tributaries. Samples from that area at and Montenegro have protected almost 900 km2 the Natural History Museum of Vienna, collected of the Skadar Lake. The Montenegrin part of the lake and its surrounding area was declared a B. Elvira (&) Á A. Almodo´ var national park in 1983, and a Ramsar Site in 1996; Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology, while in Albania, the Skadar Lake is a managed Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, E-28040 Madrid, Spain nature reserve since 2005. Conservation recom- e-mail: [email protected] mendations: Further field surveys in the Skadar
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Lake and tributaries. Poaching must be eradi- Elvira B (1997) Taxonomy of the genus Chondrostoma cated. Remarks: One of the seven freshwater fish (Osteichthyes, Cyprinidae): an updated review. Folia Zool 46(Suppl 1):1–14 species known to be extinct in the Mediterranean Ivanovic´ BM (1973) Ichthyofauna of Skadar Lake. Bio- basin (Smith and Darwall 2006), and together logical Station, Titograd. 146 pp with the Balkanian cyprinid Telestes ukliva (Hec- Maric D (1995) Endemic fish species of Montenegro. Biol kel, 1843) one of the two extinct species endemic Conserv 72:187–194 Reynolds JD, Webb TJ, Hawkins LA (2005) Life history to Europe. and ecological correlates of extinction risk in Euro- pean freshwater fishes. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 62:854– 862 References Smith KG, Darwall WRT (2006) The status and distribu- tion of freshwater fish endemic to the Mediterranean Crivelli AJ (2005) Chondrostoma scodrense. In: IUCN Basin. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambrigde, 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. UK, 34 pp ´
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