The Marathon minnow (''Pelasgus marathonicus'') 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 ...

from 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 ...

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

, the carps and minnows. It is endemic to Greece.

Description

It is a small fish with a total length of 3–7 cm. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

has around 40 scales which run from the angle of the bladder slit to the base of the tail, only the first 8-12 of these scales are perforated, forming the true lateral line. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

has3 simple and 7-8 branching rays. The tail is forked. The colour of the body is greyish-brown, pale on the ventral side with a narrow, longitudinal black band on the flanks.

Distribution

The Marathon minnow is endemic to Greece where it can be found in the drainages of the

Spercheios The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped as a god in the ancient Greek religion and appears in some c ...

and Boeotian Kifissos Rivers and on the Marathon Plain. It had been recorded from the Athenian Kifissos but not since 1971 but it was rediscovered there in 2013.

Habitat and ecology

The Marathon minnow is found in Springs, swamps, canals; normally among vegetation or under banks or in tree roots. It lives up to two years. Spawns in May–September and is a fractional spawner like other minnows in the genus '' Pelasgus''. It feeds on a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates, algae and detritus.

Conservation

The population in the Marathon area has been seriously affected by drainage for agriculture while other threats include Water abstraction, drought,

agricultural pollution Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pol ...

and introduced species such as the

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

(''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') and the mosquito-fish ('' Gambusia holbrooki''), The habitat of this species should continue to be monitored, the spread of ''Gambusia'' halted using biological control and populations of Marathon minnow should be reinforcedusing captively bred fish. A major publicity campaign for schools and environmental agencies to raise public awareness has been suggested. The Marathon minnow is considered as Endangered in Greece but the

IUCN 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 ...

class it as Near Threatened.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5856240 Cyprinid fish of Europe Fish described in 1921 Taxa named by Decio Vinciguerra Pelasgus (fish)