Oxynoemacheilus frenatus ( Heckel, 1843 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 8

Oxynoemacheilus frenatus ( Heckel, 1843) [N] — Banded Tigris loach

Taxonomy. Original description: Cobitis frenatus Heckel, 1843: 1086 [96] [Tigris River, Mosul, Iraq; syntypes: NMW 48552 (5), NRM 15477 (1)].— Iraq synonyms: Nemacheilus frenatus ( Heckel, 1843) ; Orthrias frenatus ( Heckel, 1843) ; Barbatula frenata ( Heckel, 1843) ; Nemachilus frenatus afrenatus Battalgil, 1941 .— Revisions: Prokofiev (2009: 880); Sayyadzadeh & Esmaeili (2020).—Illustration: Heckel (1843: pl. 12, fig. 1) as Cobitis frenatus ; Sayyadzadeh & Esmaeili (2020: 202, 204, figs. 10–11).

Status in Iraq. Recorded from Iraq in the original description by Heckel (1843).—Iraq materials: NMW, NRM.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Tigris River.—General distribution: Asia Minor and Middle East: Tigris River basin and Lesser Zab drainage ( Turkey, Iraq, and Iran).—Habitat: This species occurs in moderately fast-flowing to almost standing waters of springs, streams, and rivers with mud or gravel substrate. Freshwater.

Economic importance. No commercial importance.

Conservation. Conservation status in Iraq: Unknown.—IUCN: LC (IUCN 2023).—Threats: ABS, CON, HAB.— High sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Stable.—High priority for conservation action.