Phoxinus

Palandacic, Anja, Diripasko, Oleg A., Kirchner, Sandra, Stefanov, Tihomir & Bogutskaya, Nina G., 2024, An integrative approach highlights the discrepancy in the genetic, phenotypic, and presumptive taxonomic structure of Phoxinus (Actinopterygii, Leuciscidae, Phoxininae) in Bulgaria, Journal of Fish Biology 105 (1), pp. 214-238 : 223

3.1 | Data on distribution of Phoxinus in Bulgaria

For the summary of the distribution of Phoxinus in Bulgaria, all available reliable data from literature (for references see Section 2.1) and unpublished field records of the Museum of Natural History in Sofia (based on intensive sampling in all river systems in Bulgaria as of 2000) were used.

Phoxinus are distributed in all four major regions: Danube, non-Danube, West Aegean, and East Aegean regions (Figure 1). In the Danube region, Phoxinus occur in the upper reaches of the Nishava (Velika Morava system) of the Middle Danube and only in six right-bank tributaries of the Lower Danube region, downstream of the Yantra (Timok, Ogosta, Iskar, Vit, Osam, and Yantra) where their distribution is limited by the upper reaches of the main river and some tributaries. Phoxinus has never been reported in any of the Danube tributaries downstream of the Yantra.

In the non-Danube region (from north to south), Phoxinus are absent from the Batova and Provadiiska rivers, and the northernmost drainage where they occur is the Kamchiya River (the longest non-Danube river of the Black Sea basin in Bulgaria). Other rivers inhabited by Phoxinus are located to the south of the Burgas Bay: Sredetska, Fakiiska, Izvorska (all three are tributaries of Lake Mandra), Ropotamo, Dyavolska, Kitenska (Karaagach), Veleka, and Rezovska (Rezve).

In the West Aegean region, Phoxinus occur very locally in the Struma (only in six right-bank tributaries in the upper reaches of the Struma) and more widely in the Mesta and its tributaries, from the upper reaches downstream almost to the border with Greece.

In the East Aegean region, Phoxinus were recorded in four upper right-bank tributaries of the Maritsa flowing from the Rodopi (Rodopes) Mountains and a single left-bank tributary (Stryama River). They were also recorded in several left-bank tributaries of the Upper Tundzha, flowing from the Balkan Mountains, and in two left-bank tributaries of the Lower Tundzha, flowing from the northwestern slope of the Strandzha Mountains (Popovska River with its tributary Arapliiska and Vodenichna River). In the Arda system, it has been reported from several sites in its upper reaches ( Dikov et al., 1994; Russev, 1964) but has not been found in the Arda since then.

Phoxinus has also been introduced into some isolated highaltitude glacial lakes in the Pirin and Rila mountains ( Raikova-Petrova, 2000; Stefanov, 2007). All recorded sites are included in Figure 1 (black dots are all the sites where Phoxinus was recorded, as opposed to colored dots that mark samples used for genetic analysis).