Ichthyofauna of the Fresh and Brackish Waters of Russia and Adjacent Areas: Annotated List with Taxonomic Comments. 2. Order Cypriniformes, Suborders Catostomoidei, Cobitoidei and Cyprinoidei

Abstract

This paper is the second part of the “Ichthyofauna of the Fresh and Brackish Waters of Russia and Adjacent Areas: Annotated List with Taxonomic Comments”, which we started in 2022 based on a critical analysis of scientific publications of the last 200 years, and on the data of the author’s research. The current paper includes all currently known fishes of the order Cypriniformes of Russia and adjacent waters, represented by three suborders Catostomoidei, Cobitoidei and Cyprinoidei, comprising ten families, 64 genera and 177 species. The most specious families were the Leuciscidae (59 species/33.3% of all species), Gobionidae (35/19.8%) and Xenocyprididae (23/13.0%), which together represent just over 66% the total cypriniform species. Fourteen of the studied species (24.7% of all cyprinids in Russia) are introduced species, 21 species (11.9%) are endemic; 32 species (18.1%) are recorded from Russia for the first time. In relation to the habitat, 131 species live and breed exclusively in fresh waters, 31 species are of freshwater origin, but can also tolerate slightly brackish waters, ten species are represented by anadromous forms (all with residential populations), and three species are amphidromic, capable of live and reproduce both in brackish water and in freshwater. According to the IUCN criteria, the majority of fish are classified as Least Concern (135 species/76.3%), but two species, Cobitis taurica and Gobio tauricus, are Critically Endangered.