Tincidae, Jordan, 1878

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 423

Family Tincidae

Tench

The phylogenetic position of the tench has been debated for decades, with the species currently classified as belonging to a distinct family within the order Cypriniformes . Following the publication of several molecular studies in the 21 st century, Tinca was occasionally grouped with a diverse range of East Asian fishes, including Zacco , Tanichthys , and bitterlings belonging to the family Acheilognathidae . In this context, Tincidae was proposed as a distinct family, with the genus Tinca representing a monotypic taxon. The fossil record of tincids is extensive, with remains dating back to the early Oligocene (30 million years ago) in Europe, Central Asia, and Siberia. Palaeotinca and Tarsichthys were the first known genera in Tincidae and among Central Europe’s earliest representatives of Cypriniformes . It is possible that they reached this area together with a small number of other Asian invaders. Tinca was first recorded in the Middle Miocene and has since been widespread in Europe and Central Asia. Despite the long history of Tincidae , there is only one extant species, indicating that it has very strong dispersal abilities. This may be due to the species being able to guarantee gene flow over large distances, or it may be due to a massive extinction event in the past, which reduced the species’ range. The range of Tinca is subdivided between two slightly differentiated molecular groups of populations. The first is from the

Tinca tinca ; Danube drainage, Germany; ~ 350 mm SL. © A. Hartl.

British Isles to Poland, while the second is from Germany throughout Asia to China. Both groups show a large overlap in their range within Central Europe ( Germany, Poland, and the Danube), which might originate from postglacial expansion and stocking. These two population groups indicate that there might have been two glacial refuge areas. Further reading. Schulz-Mirbach & Reichenbacher 2006 ( Palaeotinca ); Gaudant 2007 ( Tarsichthys ); Lajbner et al. 2010 (phylogeography); Hirt et al. 2017 (phylogeny); Tan & Armbruster 2018 ( Tincidae ).