Sarmarutilus

{{Short description|Monotypic genus of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image =Sarmarutilus rubilio.jpg | status = VU | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Ford, M. |year=2024 |title=''Sarmarutilus rubilio'' |volume=2024 |article-number=e.T19786A137285791 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T19786A137285791.en |access-date=28 January 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Sarmarutilus rubilio | parent_authority = Bianco & Ketmaier, 2014 | display_parents = 3 | authority = (Bonaparte, 1837) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Leuciscus rubilio | Bonaparte, 1837 | Rutilus rubilio | (Bonaparte, 1837) | Leuciscus rubella | Bonaparte, 1837 | Leuciscus trasimenicus | Bonaparte, 1837 | Leuciscus fucini |Bonaparte, 1838 | Leuciscus lascha | Costa, 1838 | Leuciscus sardella | Valenciennes, 1844 | Leucos henlei | Bonaparte, 1846 | Rutilus italicus | Calderoni, 1981 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Sarmarutilus|access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref> }}

'''''Sarmarutilus''''' is a monospecific genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related fishes. The only species in this genus is '''''Sarmarutilus rubilio''''', known as the '''rovella''', '''South European roach''' or the '''Apennine roach''', a species endemic to the Italian peninsula.

==Taxonomy== ''Sarmarutilus'' was first proposed as a genus in 2014 by Pier Giorgio Bianco and Valerio Ketmaier with '' Leuciscus rubilio'' being its type species by monotypy.<ref name = "Cof family">{{Cof family|family=Leuciscinae|access-date=18 April 2025}}</ref> ''L. rubilio'' was first formally described in 1837 by the French art collector and biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte with its type locality given as Lake Nemi.<ref name = "Cof genus"/> ''L. rubilio'' was subsequently classified in the genus ''Rutilus'' but was which was reclassified in 2014 into the new monotypic ''Sarmarutilus''. This lineage is thought to have originated in the Sarmatic Sea in the Middle Miocene and reached the Mediterranean area during the Lago Mare phase, and then survived only in the Tuscany-Latium district.<ref name=Bianco2014>{{cite journal |author=Bianco, P.G.|author2= Ketmaier, V. |year=2014|url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2014/f/z03841p402f.pdf |title=A revision of the ''Rutilus'' complex from Mediterranean Europe with description of a new genus, ''Sarmarutilus'', and a new species, ''Rutilus stoumboudae'' (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)|journal=Zootaxa |volume=3841 |issue=3|pages= 379–402|doi= 10.11646/zootaxa.3841.3.4 |pmid= 25082046 }}</ref>

The sister group of ''Sarmarutilus'' is the genus ''Leucos'' of five roach species. Unlike ''Rutilus'' and ''Leucos'', ''Sarmarutilus'' is a riverine fish of running waters. It differs from ''Leucos'' by having large pearl organs on the central part of head and body scales of males. From ''Rutilus'' it differs in the pharyngeal teeth formula and by its small size.<ref name=Bianco2014/>

==Etymology== ''Sarmarutilus'' puts ''sarma'', from the ''Sarma Sea'' in front of the name of the roach genus ''Rutilus'', the Sarma Sea was a Miocene European freshwater waterbody where this species has its evolutionary origins. The specific name, ''rubilio'', thought to be a diminutive of ''rubella'', a reference to the similarity of the head shape and head proportion to that of ''Leuciscus rubella'',<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=17 April 2025 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref> now considered a synonym of ''L. rubilio''.<ref name = "Cof genus"/>

==Description== ''Samarutilus'' differs from the related genera ''Rutilus'' and ''Leucos'' in the following characteristics: the pharyngeal teeth number 5 on each side; breeding males have nuptial tubercles at the centre of each scale on the head and body; the lateral stripe is obscured by a crescent-shaped area of dense pigmentation created by obvious triangular spots on each scale crescent. This species has a maximum standard length of {{cvt|18|cm}}.<ref name = FishBase>{{FishBase|Samarutilus|rubilio|month=February|year=2025}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== ''Samarutilus'' is endemic to Italy where it is found from the Magra River south to the Sele River on the drainage basins of the Ligurian Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea, and from the Tronto River to the Trigno River in the Adriatic drainage basin. The precise extent of its native range is unknown as it has been widely introduced to rivers to the south of its known native range, as far as Sicily. The rovella is considered to be a habitat generalist but tends to be absent in the deeper slower flowing reaches of rivers, preferring upper reaches with clear water, rocky to stony substrates and aquatic vegetation, in some areas it will enter drainage channels, lakes and reservoirs.<ref name = iucn/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Rutilus rubilio}}

Category:Monotypic fish genera Category:Fish described in 1837 Category:Endemic fauna of Italy Category:Leuciscinae Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Category:Habitats Directive species