''Aphanius danfordii'', the Kızılırmak toothcarp or Sultan Sazlığı toothcarp, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of killifish belonging to the family Cyprinodontidae. It 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 Kızılırmak River and the upper Seyhan River drainage systems and is now restricted to a few locations in the Sultan Sazlığı marshes. Though little data is available, the population of the fish seems to be declining. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being " critically endangered" and fears it may become extinct in the wild if the drainage of the marshes continues.

Distribution

It is endemic to Turkey and distributes in the drainage systems of the Kızılırmak River and in the upper Seyhan River, but further investigations are needed.

Description

The Kızılırmak toothcarp shows sexual dimorphism like all ''Aphanius'' species. Males have nine to twelve dark grey-black bars on the sides of the body, a dark blue-black dorsal fin and colourless to yellow caudal and anal fin with two or three black lines at the margins. Females have silver-grey body with a large number of dark grey spots. The largest spot is always centered on the base of the caudal fin. All fins are colorless.

Habitat

The Kızılırmak toothcarp lives in small springs, swamps, marches and still parts of the streams.

Biology

''Aphanius danfordii'' is not a seasonal killifish and its longevity reaches up to five years. It has a long spawning period which takes place from May to the end of August. Their eggs are adhesive and are attached on aquatic plants in small patches. Its growth rate and batch-spawning reproductive strategy give ''A. danfordii'' a highly competitive ability for survival in its environment.Yoğurtçuoğlu, B.; Ekmekçi, F.G. (2012) Life-history traits of ''Aphanius danfordii'' (Boulenger, 1890) (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae), endemic to Kızılırmak Basin (Turkey),J. Appl. Ichthyol. (2012), 1–6, 10.1111/jai.12036 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jai.12036/abstract

Status

The Sultan Sazlığı marshes in the

Develi Develi, formerly known as Averak, is a town and district in Kayseri Province in Central Anatolia Region, Turkey. History The historical name of the town is Everek and it is called ''Averak'' (oren, ruin) in Armenian. The historian, geographer, ...

depression in which this fish lives are drying out as water is abstracted for agricultural purposes, putting the continued survival of this fish at risk. The

has rated its conservation status as " critically endangered" and fears it may become extinct in the wild if drainage of the marshes continues.

Species description and naming

''Aphanius danfordii'' was described by George Boulenger as ''Lebias danfordii'' in 1890 with the type locality given as Albistan. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

artist, sportsman and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Charles George Danford Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

(1843-1928) who collected the type.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3758739 danfordii Endemic fauna of Turkey Critically endangered animals Fish described in 1890