New Record of a Population of Telestes souffia (Risso, 1827) (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae) in Serbia

Abstract

Western vairone Telestes souffia (Risso, 1827) is a small-sized leuciscine species inhabiting rivers in Mediterranean, North and Black Sea drainages. Due to the lack of information on its occurrence in the waters of Serbia, there is a need for renewing knowledge about its geographical range. The new record of a population of T. souffia in Gračanica River (tributary of the Lim River, Danube River drainage) is provided based on morphological data and mtDNA cyt b gene analyses. Population belongs to the subspecies T. s. agassii (Valeciennes, 1844) (phylogenetic lineage T. s. agassii 1). The population from the Gračanica River exhibits moderate values of haplotype and nucleotide diversity. As morphological characteristics distinguishing this population from others are identified (1) the eye diameter in proportion to the head length and (2) the number of rays in the ventral fin.