{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Vimba melanops.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author=Ford, M. |year=2024 |title=''Vimba melanops'' |article-number=e.T22978A137340893 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22978A137340893.en |access-date=28 January 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Vimba melanops | display_parents = 3 | authority = (Heckel, 1837) | synonyms = ''Abramis melanops'' <small>Heckel, 1837</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Vimba|access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref> }}
The '''Macedonian vimba''' ('''''Vimba melanops''''') or '''malamída''', is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. This fish is endemic to the southern Balkans.
==Taxonomy== The Macedonina vimba was first formally described as ''Abramis melanops'' in 1837 by the Austrian ichthyologist Johann Jakob Heckel with its type locality given as the Maritza River in eastern Rumelia, in modern Bulgaria.<ref name = "Cof genus"/> This species is now classified in the genus ''Vimba'' which was proposed as a genus by the Austrian zoologist Leopold Fitzinger in 1873 and is classified within the subfamily Leuciscinae in the Family Leuciscidae.<ref name = "Cof family">{{Cof family|family=Leuciscinae|access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref>
==Etymology== The Macedonian vimba belongs to the genus ''Vimba'', a name which Fitzinger used tautonymously for ''Cyprinus vimba'' which is thought to be derived from the Swedish vernacular name ''vimma'' for ''Vimba vimba''. The specific name, ''melanops'', mean "black face" or "black look", which alludes to the dark colouration of this fish.<ref name = ETYFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/leuciscinae/ |title=Family LEUCISCIDAE: Subfamily LEUCISCINAE Bonaparte 1835 (European Minnows)|author=Christopher Scharpf |date=8 April 2024 |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>
==Description== The Macedonian vimba is told apart from its Balkan relatives by having between 15 and {{fraction|18|1|2}} branched rays in its anal fin; there is no keel on the back to the rear of the base of the dorsal fin. The breeding males develop a broad black band along the middle of the flank with a white cheek and belly. This species has a maximum total length of {{cvt|32|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase|Vimba|melanops|month=February|year=2025}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The Macedonian vimba is found in the Southern Balkans in the catchment of the Pineios east to the Evros drainage. It has been recorded in Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and East Thrace. It is a species found in deep low-lying reaches of rivers and in lakes.<ref name = iucn/>
==Sources== {{Reflist}} *{{FishBase|Vimba|melanops}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q669762}}
Category:Vimba Category:Cyprinid fish of Europe Category:Fish described in 1837 Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot