''Paraschistura chrysicristinae'', the Diyarbakır loach or Batman River loach is a species of

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 ...

in the genus ''

Paraschistura ''Paraschistura'' is a genus of stone loaches most of which occur in Central, South and Western Asia.Kottelat, M. (2012)Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). ''The Raffles Bullet ...

''. It was recorded from two locations from the

Batman River The Batman River is a major tributary of the Tigris, joining it near the source of Tigris called Dicle River in southeast Turkey. The region along the Batman River is known for its petroleum, oil fields. Course The river originates in the Anti-T ...

(a tributary of the upper

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

in Turkey) in the 1970s and had not been recorded since then, until in 2021 when specimens were found in the

Han stream Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

and

Sarim stream The Sarim (sometimes Saarim), or "forest of scholars", was a powerful faction of literati that dominated Middle and Late Joseon politics in Korea. History of Sarim faction Early beginning The philosophical lineage of the Sarim scholars origina ...

. It is thought that the fish was able to avoid discovery by being so small (3 cm) and thus able to easily slip through nets.

References

chrysicristinae Endemic fauna of Turkey Fish described in 1998 Taxa named by Teodor T. Nalbant {{Nemacheilidae-stub