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Sculpin-perch
Romanichthys valsanicola
Romanichthys is a genus of ray-finned fish. It is one of two genera in the tribe Romanichthyini which, along with the tribe Luciopercini, forms the subfamily Luciopercinae of the family Percidae. This happens alongside the perches, ruffes, and darters. The genus contains the single species Romanichthys valsanicola, known as the sculpin-perch, asprete, or Romanian darter.
This fish was described in 1957 by Romanian student scientists M. Dumitrescu, P. Bănărescu, and N. Stoica. Local names include asprete, poprete, and sforete. Endemic to a very restricted area in southern Romania, it was found in the upper reach of the Argeş River and in two of its tributaries: Râul Doamnei and Vâlsan. Due to hydrotechnical constructions and deterioration of its habitat, it survived only in the tributary Vâlsan.
From the article Romanichthys on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
R. valsanicola is a small, greyish-brown fish growing to about 10–12 cm (4–4.5 in) long, covered with small, rough scales. It can be distinguished from other European perches by the two clearly separated dorsal fins. The first has eight or nine spines and the anal fin has 7½ branched rays and 58–68 scales along the lateral line. The fish is considered to be a living fossil, unchanged for tens of millions of years.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
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Every page naming Romanichthys valsanicola in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 111854.