The Techirghiol stickleback (''Gasterosteus crenobiontus'') was an

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 ...

fish species, found in the streams inflowing to the coastal hyperhaline

Lake Techirghiol Techirghiol is a lake in Northern Dobruja, Romania, near the town with the same name. Etymology The name of the lake comes from the Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language * ...

in southern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It was a

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

benthopelagic fish, up to SL in length. It is considered

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

due to

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with the

three-spined stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

following irrigation which allowed the two taxa to mix by diluting the hypersaline water barrier which separated them. The last known occurrence of the species was in the 1960s.Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. 2008. Gasterosteus crenobiontus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 25 September 2014.

References

External links

''Gasterosteus crenobiontus'' at FishBase
Techirghiol stickleback Endemic fauna of Romania Extinct animals of Europe Fish extinctions since 1500 Techirghiol stickleback {{Gasterosteiformes-stub