Discovery of a new minnow species in the Black and Marmara Sea basins, Türkiye

Using morphometric, meristic, molecular, and qualitative characters, it confirmed a specific status of a clade discovered. Phoxinus kottelati, a new species, is distributed in the southwestern Black and Marmara Sea drainages. It is distinguished by having the scales of the breast scaled but separated by unscaled areas anteriorly, a color pattern in the spawning period, and a blue spot between the eye and the mouth in males.

Molecular data also indicate that Phoxinus kottelati is characterized by a 2.1 % sequence divergence in the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cyt b) gene from its closest relative P. strandjae, 2.8 % from P. abanticus, and 3.0 % from P. radeki.