Lithochromis rufus Seehausen et Lippitsch, 1998

Iftime, Alexandru & Oţel, Vasile, 2025, An annotated systematical checklist of the Romanian ichthyofauna, Zootaxa 5654 (1), pp. 1-64 : 45-47

Lithochromis rufus Seehausen et Lippitsch, 1998

A non-native species, transiently found in urban ponds as an aquarium release, but not surviving the end of the warm season (Bucharest — Iftime & Iftime 2021).

ORD. ACANTHURIFORMES

Fam. Moronidae

Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792) X Morone chrysops (Rafinesque, 1820)

A non-native freshwater hybrid, stocked deliberately in some lakes, near Bucharest ( Iftime & Iftime 2021).

C) doubtful records, probable/possible occurrences

CYCLOSTOMI

ORD. PETROMYZONIFORMES

Fam. Petromyzonidae

Lampetra sp.

Two specimens from the Toplița rivulet, a tributary of the Moldova river in the Siret drainage, were attributed to Lampetra planeri (Bloch, 1784) ( Bănărescu 1969 and literature quoted therein; Cocan & MireȘan 2018); they were described as “rather Lampetra planeri than Eudontomyzon mariae ” (Apetroaie 1975) or referred to aberrant “ E. mariae ” ( Bănărescu 2004) , i.e. E. vladykovi (see above). Anadromous Lampetra are known from the Black Sea ( Kottelat & Freyhof 2007; Naseka & Diripasko, 2008; Li 2014), and, as Lampetra fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) is very similar to, and apparently conspecific with (and senior synonym of), L. planeri ( Popov & Makhrov, 2015; see also supporting results in Rüber et al. 2023, though without concluding thus) and Lampetra - Eudontomyzon hybrids are known ( Levin et al. 2016), sporadic anadromous L. fluviatilis may hypothetically have generated L. planeri -like hybrids as mentioned above.

CHONDRICHTHYES

ORD. CARCHARHINIFORMES

Fam. Carcharhinidae

Prionace glauca (Linnaeus, 1758)

A vagrant marine species allegedly found in Romanian Black Sea waters ( CărăuȘu 1952; Aleksandrov et al. 2017). CărăuȘu only mentioned the species for the Black Sea , but given that no other Pontic riverine country claims this record, and the information has emerged that it (probably?) pertains to the Danube Delta area ( Aleksandrov et al. 2017) then it must by necessity belong to Romania; still, we cannot consider it otherwise than doubtful.

ORD. SQUALIFORMES

Fam. Squalidae

Squalus blainville (Risso, 1827)

A marine species, native to the Black Sea , mentioned for the 2 Mai-Vama Veche Marine Reserve and/or the southern Romanian marine waters ( Zaharia et al. 2002); however, later works on the same protected area give the species as „extinct” here ( Nicolaev et al., 2004) or do not mention it (Niță et al. 2012); it is not given for Romania by any other authors ( Bănărescu 1969; Oțel 2007; Radu et al. 2008; Yankova et al. 2014; Niță et al. 2022).

OSTEICHTHYES

ORD. CLUPEIFORMES

Fam. Alosidae

Alosa maeotica (Grimm, 1901)

A native marine species, found (sporadically) along all Romanian Black Sea waters and entering the Razim lagoon system and the Danube mouths ( Bănărescu 1969; Radu et al. 2008; Yankova et al. 2014; Cocan & MireȘan 2018; Niță et al. 2022). Oțel (2007) considers its presence doubtful in Romanian waters (as not a single individual could be confirmed). It has disappeared (or at least became extremely rare) in the north-western Black Sea ( Mezhzherin & Vernygora, 2013) and was not found even in the Azov Sea, in a recent sample ( Vernygora et al., 2018).

ORD. CYPRINIFORMES

Fam. Cobitidae

Cobitis strumicae Karaman, 1955

A freshwater species, it is mentioned (as Cobitis peschevi Sivkov et Dobrovolov, 1984 ) as present in Romania ( Nalbant, 2003), without any reference to specimens, location or literature record(s). Its presence is doubtful since no definite records are known for C. strumicae , a Bulgarian endemic, for the Danube river (which is shared with Romania): Stefanov (2007) considers its presence in the Danube and lower course of Danubian tributaries questionable, and other resources give the range of C. strumicae as not touching the Danube ( Vassilev & Pehlivanov, 2005; Choleva et al. 2008; Stefanov 2019).

Fam. Leuciscidae

Alburnus sava Bogutskaya, Zupančič, Jelić, Diripasko et Naseka, 2017

A native, localized freshwater species, living in flowing water in the middle Danube (above the Iron Gates) and its tributaries ( Bănărescu, 1964 [as Chalcalburnus chalcoides mento ]; Kottelat & Freyhof 2007 [as Alburnus sarmaticus ]; Bogutskaya et al. 2017). Romanian records above the Iron Gates (of which there is at least one in the Danube, see Bănărescu 1964, and one in the MureȘ, see Halasi‐Kovács 2017) probably pertain to this species ( Bogutskaya et al. 2017; Halasi‐Kovács 2017; Harka & Halasi-Kovács 2024), but this should be checked upon specimens, if available. It survives in the Kolpa river ( Sava river catchment) ( Kottelat & Freyhof 2007; Bogutskaya et al. 2017), Danube and Tisza ( Halasi‐Kovács 2017; Harka & Halasi-Kovács 2024), but was not recorded recently in or near Romania.