''Sarmarutilus rubilio'', known as the rovella or the South European roach, is a species of
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 ...
fish in the family
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 ...
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...
district of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, both in waters draining to the
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
s, and introduced further south in the country. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s are
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
s and freshwater
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s. It is threatened by introduced species and habitat loss.
''S. rubilio'' is the single species in the genus ''Sarmarutilus'', which was separated from the broader roach genus ''Rutilus'' in 2014. The ''Sarmarutilus'' lineage is thought to have originated in the Sarmatic area in the Middle
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
Leucos
''Leucos'' is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, from Southern Europe. They are carp close to the genus '' Rutilus'', and were only recently taxonomically distinguished from that genus.Bianco, P.G., Ketmaier, V. (2014)A revision of the ...
'' of five roach species. Unlike ''Rutilus'' and ''Leucos'', ''Sarmarutilus'' is a riverine fish of running waters. It differs from ''Leucos'' by having large pearl organs on the central part of head and body scales of males. From ''Rutilus'' it differs in the