Techirghiol stickleback
| Techirghiol stickleback | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Gasterosteidae |
| Genus: | Gasterosteus |
| Species: | †G. crenobiontus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Gasterosteus crenobiontus Băcescu & R. F. Mayer, 1956
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Techirghiol stickleback (Gasterosteus crenobiontus) was an endemic fish species, found in the streams inflowing to the coastal hypersaline Lake Techirghiol in southern Romania.[2]
Etymology
The species name derives from creno- (from the Greek krēnē, “spring”) and bionta, likely an adjectival form of biont, meaning “an individual organism.” Together, the name refers to the freshwater springs feeding Lake Techirghiol in Romania, to which the species was endemic before its extinction through introgressive hybridization with Gasterosteus aculeatus in the mid‑20th century.[3]
Lifestyle
It was a freshwater benthopelagic fish, up to 6.5 centimetres (2.6 in) SL in length.[4]
Extinction
It is considered extinct due to hybridization with the three-spined stickleback following irrigation which allowed the two taxa to mix by diluting the hypersaline water barrier which separated them. The last known occurrence of the species was in the 1960s.[5]
References
- ^ Freyhof, J.; Kottelat, M. (2008). "Gasterosteus crenobiontus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008 e.T135637A4167779. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135637A4167779.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Kottelat, M. and J. Freyhof, 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol and Freyhof, Berlin. 646 pp.
- ^ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order PERCIFORMES (part 16): Suborder COTTOIDEI: Infraorder GASTEROSTEALES: Families HYPOPTYCHIDAE, AULORHYNCHIDAE and GASTEROSTEIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Gasterosteus crenobiontus". FishBase. February 2025 version.
- ^ Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. 2008. Gasterosteus crenobiontus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 25 September 2014.