Scientists have described 11 new species of loach from Turkey which span three different genera.
Loach authority Theodor Nalbant of Romania's Institute of Biology worked with Fusun Erk' Akan and S Cevher Ozeren of Hacettepe University in Turkey to describe the new species.
The team's study, which has just been published in the Journal of Fisheries International, describes seven new species of Barbatula, three new Schistura and a species of Seminemacheilus.
The loaches are all members of the balitorid subfamily Nemacheilinae and were discovered in the freshwater basins of Turkey.
The species have been named Barbatula germencica, B. bergamensis, B. cinica, B. mediterraneus, B. phoxinoides, B. paucllepis and B. erdali, Seminemacheilus ispartensis, Schistura ceyhanensis, S. seyhanicola and S. evreni.
The new species are distinguished from other Turkish loaches by combinations of body and head shape, fin ray formulae, mouth and lip structure, colour pattern and the presence of suborbital flaps, among other characters.
Full details on identifying the loaches can be found in the paper.
For more information see the paper: Erk' Akan F, Nalbant TT and SC Ozeren (2007) - Seven new species of Barbatula, three new species of Schistura and a new species of Seminemacheilus (Ostariophysi: Balitoridae: Nemacheilinae) from Turkey. Journal of Fisheries International 2 (1): 69-85, 2007.