''Cottus rondeleti'' is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cottidae The Cottidae are a family of fish in the superfamily Cottoidea, the sculpins. It is the largest sculpin family, with about 275 species in 70 genera.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in the flow lane: differences in pectoral fin morphology ...

, the typical sculpins. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the coastal Hérault drainage of Southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The total known distribution comprises three distinct short stretches of stream, and the species considered critically endangered because of threat of drought that is promoted by water extraction and potentially by climate change. This species was described as a separate species from the

European bullhead The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bu ...

(''C. gobio'') in 2005 by

Jörg Freyhof Jörg Arthur Freyhof (born 4 November 1964 in Ludwigshafen) is a German ichthyologist specializing on Old World cypriniform fishes.

Maurice Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandCo ...

and Arne W. Nolte. The specific name honours

Guillaume Rondelet Guillaume Rondelet (27 September 150730 July 1566), also known as Rondeletus/Rondeletius, was Regius professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in southern France and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He ...

, a pioneer of European

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octob ...

References

*Freyhof, J., M. Kottelat and A. Nolte, 2005. Taxonomic diversity of European ''Cottus'' with description of eight new species (Teleostei: Cottidae). ''Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat.'' 16(2):107-172. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5025917 Endemic fish of Metropolitan France Freshwater fish of Europe Cottus (fish) Fish described in 2005 Taxa named by Jörg Freyhof Taxa named by Maurice Kottelat

See also

References