Phoxinus csikii Hankó, 1922

Iftime, Alexandru & Oţel, Vasile, 2025, An annotated systematical checklist of the Romanian ichthyofauna, Zootaxa 5654 (1), pp. 1-64 : 47

Phoxinus csikii Hankó, 1922

A native, relatively widespread freshwater rheophilic species, found in the Serbian Danube area ( Denys et al. 2020; Palandačić et al. 2020); Romanian populations from adjacent Romanian areas, e.g. the Danube affluents of the Iron Gates area ( Bănărescu et al. 1975) might conceivably belong to this species.

ORD. CHARACIFORMES

Fam. Serrasalmidae

Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887)

A non-native species, found as a release from aquaria/aquaculture ( Drăgan et al. 2024)—unfortunately, no image, which would have cleared possible confusion with P. brachypomus , accompanies this first record for Romania.

ORD. SYNGNATHIFORMES

Fam. Syngnathidae

Syngnathus acus Linnaeus, 1758

A native marine species, mentioned for Romania ( Dawson 1986; Yankova et al. 2014; Cocan & MireȘan 2018) and more specifically for Constanța and CostineȘti ( Nenciu et al. 2016). However, the former studies do not give specific references for Romania, and Nenciu et al. 2016 do not show photos of this species or discuss its identification, therefore, as there are no other records for Romania, the risk of a confusion (e.g. with S. tenuirostris —see Vasil’eva 2007) cannot be fully cleared.

ORD. GOBIIFORMES

Fam. Gobiidae

Gobius bucchichi Steindachner, 1870

A native marine species, rarely or sporadically found in Romanian Black Sea waters, especially in the southern areas ( Miller 1986; Nicolaev et al. 2004; Yankova et al. 2014). Micu & Todorova 2007 found it in dives in an area including both Bulgarian and Romanian waters, but do not precisely mention where; Vasilev et al. 2012 record it quite away from the Romanian waters. Gobius bucchichi alone occurs in the Black Sea ; the recently described, similar and often confused G. incognitus Kovačić et Šanda 2016 does not ( Kovačić et al. 2023); nevertheless, the Romanian presence of G. bucchichi needs confirmation (M. Kovačić, pers. comm.).