Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★
The southernmost part of Albania, the Butrinti Lake area is characterised by a highly diverse freshwater fish community with a high degree of regional endemism. This study focuses on the Corfu killifish (or toothcarp) Valencia letourneuxi (Sauvage, 1880) that is endemic to the western part of the Io...
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doaj-c012b9f5fa72447c809881d9e5e4783f2021-02-18T10:44:52ZengEDP SciencesKnowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems1961-95022020-01-0104214510.1051/kmae/2020036kmae200099Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★Shumka Spase0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5930-6034Kalogianni Eleni1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9460-3122Šanda Radek2Vukić Jasna3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2243-0303Shumka Laura4Zimmerman Brian5Department of Biotechnology and Food, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food, Agricultural University of TiranaHellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland WatersDepartment of Zoology, National Museum, Václavskénám. 68Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Applied Economics, Albanian UniversityZoological Society of London, Regent's ParkThe southernmost part of Albania, the Butrinti Lake area is characterised by a highly diverse freshwater fish community with a high degree of regional endemism. This study focuses on the Corfu killifish (or toothcarp) Valencia letourneuxi (Sauvage, 1880) that is endemic to the western part of the Ionian Ecoregion, and reported in Albania in the past from a single location, Lake Butrinti. Recently, in June 2019, the species has been rediscovered at a very low population density (only 11 individuals collected) in a spring-fed stream in the vicinity of Lake Butrinti. Other fish present together with V. letourneuxi were the native Telestes pleurobipunctatus, Barbus peloponnesius, Anguilla anguilla and Pelasgus thesproticus and the translocated Alburnus sp. Our findings provide useful insights into the ecology and conservation of a Critically Endangered, range-restricted species and its habitats. The Corfu killifish presence correlated negatively with water depth and positively with aquatic vegetation coverage. The conservation implications of our findings both for the target species and the co-occurring fish fauna in its spring-fed habitats are discussed.https://www.kmae-journal.org/articles/kmae/full_html/2020/01/kmae200099/kmae200099.htmlvalencia letourneuxilake butrinticonservationpriority speciescritically endangered |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Shumka Spase Kalogianni Eleni Šanda Radek Vukić Jasna Shumka Laura Zimmerman Brian |
spellingShingle |
Shumka Spase Kalogianni Eleni Šanda Radek Vukić Jasna Shumka Laura Zimmerman Brian Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems valencia letourneuxi lake butrinti conservation priority species critically endangered |
author_facet |
Shumka Spase Kalogianni Eleni Šanda Radek Vukić Jasna Shumka Laura Zimmerman Brian |
author_sort |
Shumka Spase |
title |
Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ |
title_short |
Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ |
title_full |
Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ |
title_fullStr |
Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish Valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south Albania★ |
title_sort |
ecological particularities of the critically endangered killifish valencia letourneuxi and its spring-fed habitats: a long-lost endemic species of south albania★ |
publisher |
EDP Sciences |
series |
Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems |
issn |
1961-9502 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
The southernmost part of Albania, the Butrinti Lake area is characterised by a highly diverse freshwater fish community with a high degree of regional endemism. This study focuses on the Corfu killifish (or toothcarp) Valencia letourneuxi (Sauvage, 1880) that is endemic to the western part of the Ionian Ecoregion, and reported in Albania in the past from a single location, Lake Butrinti. Recently, in June 2019, the species has been rediscovered at a very low population density (only 11 individuals collected) in a spring-fed stream in the vicinity of Lake Butrinti. Other fish present together with V. letourneuxi were the native Telestes pleurobipunctatus, Barbus peloponnesius, Anguilla anguilla and Pelasgus thesproticus and the translocated Alburnus sp. Our findings provide useful insights into the ecology and conservation of a Critically Endangered, range-restricted species and its habitats. The Corfu killifish presence correlated negatively with water depth and positively with aquatic vegetation coverage. The conservation implications of our findings both for the target species and the co-occurring fish fauna in its spring-fed habitats are discussed. |
topic |
valencia letourneuxi lake butrinti conservation priority species critically endangered |
url |
https://www.kmae-journal.org/articles/kmae/full_html/2020/01/kmae200099/kmae200099.html |
work_keys_str_mv |
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