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New Red List assessments proposed for the recently described freshwater fish species in Greece

Anthi Oikonomou1*, Matthew Ford2, 3, Roberta Barbieri1, Eleni Kalogianni1, Jörg Freyhof2, Nefeli Stasinou1 and Maria T. Stoumboudi1
  • 1 Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Greece
  • 2 Museum für Naturkunde, Germany
  • 3 Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany

In Europe, freshwater fish is the most threatened vertebrate group, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, the last European Red List for freshwater fish was published in 2011, with the majority of assessments completed prior to 2010. Efforts to comprehensively reassess the conservation status of all European freshwater fish are underway, but a number of new species have been described in the last decade and remain in need of a first Red List assessment, to establish their respective extinction risks and set conservation priorities. Greece is a hotspot for European freshwater fish biodiversity, as its ichthyofauna includes 163 species of which 123 are native and 60 endemic. New species continue to be discovered and recently-described taxa include Caspiomyzon graecus (Renaud & Economidis 2010), Valencia robertae Freyhof, Kärst & Geiger 2014 and Alburnoides economoui Barbieri, Vukić, Šanda & Zogaris 2017, while Alburnoides strymonicus Chichkoff 1940 has been revalidated and the former subspecies Alburnoides thessalicus (Stephanidis 1950) elevated to the rank of species. In this study the distribution of these new species was reviewed and their conservation status determined by applying IUCN Red List criteria, leading to the synthesis of a proposal for new Red List assessments, including recommendations for future research and management priorities. Alburnoides strymonicus and Alburnoides thessalicus, due to their abundance and wide geographic range are classified as Least Concern. Alburnoides economoui being restricted to a single river drainage in the Western Aegean freshwater ecoregion (Sperchios river), with a distribution covering an area smaller than 225 km2 qualifies as an Endangered species under criterion B; it is threatened by water abstraction and pollution and habitat fragmentation (Barbieri et al., 2017). Caspiomyzon graecus and Valencia robertae are placed under the Critically Endangered category. Caspiomyzon graecus is only known from a single location (Louros River) (Northwestern Greece), with a total estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) <100 km² and area of occupancy (AOO) <10 km²; the species is threatened mainly by habitat loss and degradation resulting from river channelization, water abstraction and pollution (Renaud &Economidis, 2010, Barbieri et al., 2015). Valencia robertae is known from a few localities (each of a few square meters surface area), with an extent of occurrence smaller than 100 km² and an area of occupancy less than 10 km². Major threats are habitat loss or degradation, excessive groundwater extraction (for agriculture), and water pollution, as well as competition with Gambusia holbrooki, which has invaded almost all of its habitats (Kalogianni et al., 2010, Freyjof et al., 2014, Vogiatzi et al., 2014). Improved taxonomic knowledge can have a positive impact on the conservation of threatened, endemic freshwater fish species. In brief, conservation priorities for A. economoui should focus on habitat restoration and pollution prevention, for C. graecus should include habitat restoration through an area-based Management Plan, research and monitoring for the species and for V. robertae should comprise the protection of lowland spring-fed habitats that currently constitute important refugia for this species, as well as actions to prevent the invasion of the alien G. holbrooki to the few Valencia habitats that remain mosquitofish-free.

References

Barbieri, R., J. Vukic, R. Sanda, Y. Kapakos and S. Zogaris, 2017. Alburnoides economoui, a new species of spirlin from Central Greece and redescription of Alburnoides thessalicus (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae). Biologia 71(9):1075- 1088. Barbieri R., S. Zogaris, E. Kalogianni, M. Th. Stoumboudi, Y. Chatzinikolaou, S. Giakoumi, Y. Kapakos, D. Kommatas, N. Koutsikos, V. Tachos, L. Vardakas & Economou A.N., 2015. Freshwater Fishes and Lampreys of Greece: An annotated checklist. Monographs on Marine Sciences No. 8. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research: Athens, Greece. p. 130. Freyhof, J., H. Kärst and Geiger M. 2014. Valencia robertae, a new killifish from southern Greece (Cyprinodontiformes: Valenciidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 24(4): 289-298. Kalogianni E., Giakoumi S., Zogaris S., Chatzinikolaou Y.,Zimmerman B., Economou A.N. 2010. Current distribution and ecology of the critically endangered Valencia letourneuxi in Greece. Biologia, 65: 128- 139. Renaud, C. B. & Economidis, P. S. 2010. Eudontomyzon graecus, a new nonparasitic lamprey species from Greece (Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae). Zootaxa 2477: 37- 48. Vogiatzi, E., Kalogianni, E., Zimmerman, B., Giakoumi, S., Barbieri, R., Paschou, P., Magoulas, A., Tsaparis, D., Poulakakis, N., Tsigenopoulos, C.S. 2014. Reduced genetic variation and strong genetic population structure in the freshwater killifish Valencia letourneuxi (Valenciidae) based on nuclear and mitochondrial markers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 111 (2): 334- 349.

Keywords: freshwater fish, Red List assessment, Conservation status, Conservation priorities, Greece

Conference: XVI European Congress of Ichthyology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2 Sep - 6 Sep, 2019.

Presentation Type: Poster

Topic: THREATS AND CONSERVATION

Citation: Oikonomou A, Ford M, Barbieri R, Kalogianni E, Freyhof J, Stasinou N and Stoumboudi MT (2019). New Red List assessments proposed for the recently described freshwater fish species in Greece. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XVI European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.07.00150

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Received: 07 Jun 2019; Published Online: 14 Aug 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Anthi Oikonomou, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Heraklion, Greece, anthi.oikon@gmail.com