Stone Loaches of the genus Oxynoemacheilus are found across the Eastern Mediterranean, the southern Caucasus, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Central Iran. To date, 67 species have been assigned to the genus, of which are found in Turkish inland waters, and 36 entirely endemic to the country. Sixteen species are found within the Tigris and Euphrates basins, 14 within rivers and streams draining into the Mediterranean, six in rivers and streams draining into the Black Sea, four in rivers and streams draining into the Caspian, two species within the Konya Basin, two within the Marmara Basin, and one within the Van Basin.
In a paper published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution on 9 May 2024, Davut Turan of the Faculty of Fisheries at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Sadi̇ Aksu of the Vocational School of Health Services at Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Sali̇m Serkan Güçlü of the Faculty of Eğirdir Fisheries at Isparta University of Applied Sciences, and Gökhan Kalaycı, also of the Faculty of Fisheries at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, describe a new species of Oxynoemacheilus from streams in the Aegean drainage of Anatolia.
The new species is named Oxynoemacheilus kottelati, in honour of the Swiss ichthyologist Maurice Kottelat, for his contributions to our understanding of the world's Fish fauna. The species is described from a series of Fish collected from the Havran and Karınca streams in Balıkesir Province, Turkey, in October 2023.
Specimens of Oxynoemacheilus kottelati range from 35 to 54 mm in length, with a deep body, laterally compressed at the base of the tail. They have a marbled brownish pattern on their flanks and dorsal surface, but are white on the underside.
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