Oxynoemacheilus namiri (Krupp & Schneider, 1991)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 523-524

Oxynoemacheilus namiri

Common name. Levantine loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Cilicia and northern Levant by: ● flank pattern usually with 6–17, very distinct and regularly shaped and set bars, usually all or most flank-bars, at least behind dorsal base, extending to middorsal saddles and usually meeting contralateral / ○ caudal deeply emarginate, length of middle caudal ray 1.3–1.5 times in length of longest unbranched ray in upper caudal lobe / ○ suborbital groove absent in male / ○ no or very shallow dorsal crest on caudal peduncle / ○ scales absent on flank in front of dorsal, sparsely set below dorsal, densely set on posterior flank, or very few isolated and embedded scales on back and flank in front of dorsal origin / ○ lateral line terminating anterior to or below dorsal base, rarely above anus or anal base, very exceptionally at caudal base / ○ head length

21–24 % SL / ○ body depth at dorsal origin 16–20 % SL / ○ caudal–peduncle depth 1.2–1.4 times in its length. Size up to 84 mm SL.

Distribution. Orontes drainage and coastal streams in Syria from Orontes south to Nahr al-Kabir on Syrian- Lebanese border.

Habitat. Moderately fast-flowing to stagnant waters of springs, streams, and rivers with muddy or gravelly bottoms. Also on banks of reservoirs and in irrigation canals.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. A population of O. tigris from the upper Qweiq in Türkiye shares mtDNA with O. namiri , suggesting past hybridisation between these two species and, thus, a close biogeographic link between the Orontes and the Qweiq.

Further reading. Krupp & Schneider 1991 (description).

Oxynoemacheilus nasreddini ; Lake Ilgın basin, Türkiye; 75 mm SL.