Abrau sprat

Abrau sprat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Ehiravidae
Genus: Clupeonella
Species:
C. abrau
Binomial name
Clupeonella abrau
(Maliatsky, 1930)
Synonyms
  • Harengula abrau Maliatsky, 1930
  • Clupeonella abrau abrau (Maliatsky, 1930)
  • Clupeonella muhlisi (non Neu, 1934)

The Abrau sprat (Clupeonella abrau) is a species of freshwater fish in the family Clupeidae.[2] It is found landlocked in Russia in a single locality, Lake Abrau, located at 70 m above sea level near the Black Sea coast close to Novorossiysk.[3] The lake is small and has been stocked by several alien species, whence the Abrau sprat is considered critically endangered.[1] As a result of the 2019 expedition, several individuals of the Abrau sprat were caught and their mitocondrial genome were sequenced, which showed their identity with the museum specimens.[4] This confirmed that the C. abrau is present in the fish community and is capable of reproducing in the Lake Abrau.[4]

A sprat of the Lake Apolyont in Turkey, linked to the Sea of Marmara, was earlier treated as a subspecies of the Abrau sprat, Clupeonella abrau muhilisi, but has more recently been considered an independent species Clupeonella muhlisi.[1][5]

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