Rutilus

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{other uses}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Rutilusrutilus38cm 2143x1060.JPG | image_caption = Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus'') | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Rutilus | authority = Rafinesque, 1820<ref name = "Cof family">{{Cof family|family=Leuciscinae|access-date=16 April 2025}}</ref> | type_species = ''Cyprinus rutilus'' | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758<ref name = "Cof family"/> | synonyms = {{Genus list | Cenisophius | Bonaparte, 1846 | Gardonus | Bonaparte, 1846 | Metallites | Schulze, 1890 | Orfus | Fitzinger, 1873 | Pararutilus | Berg, 1912 | Pigus | Bonaparte, 1846 | Rubellus | Fitzinger, 1873 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof family"/> | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = }}

'''''Rutilus''''', commonly known as '''roaches''', is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related fishes. This genus is a widely distributed lineage of leuciscids and ranges from West Europe to East Siberia.<ref name=FB>{{FishBase genus|genus=Rutilus |month=February|year=2025}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== ''Rutilus'' was first proposed as a genus in 1820 by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque with ''Cyprinus rutilus'' designated as the type species but also the type species by absolute tautonymy.<ref name = "Cof family"/> ''Cyprinus rutilus'' was first formally described in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' by Carl Linnaeus with "European lakes" given as the type locality.<ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Rutilus|access-date=16 April 2025}}</ref>

In a phylogeographic study, Levin et al. (2017) argue that the Ponto-Caspian taxa including ''R. caspicus'', ''R. heckelii'' and ''R. stoumboudae'' could represent a single widespread species whose range extends to Siberia, to be named ''Rutilus lacustris'', whereas ''R. kutum'' is included in ''R. frisii''.<ref name=Levin2017>{{cite journal|author=Levin, B.A.|author2= Simonov, E.P.|author3= Ermakov, O.A.|author4= Levina, M.A.|author5= Interesova, E.A.|author6= Kovalchuk, O.M.|author7= Malinina, Y.A.|author8= Mamilov, N.S. |author9=Mustafayev, N.J.|author10= Pilin, D.V.|author11= Pozdeev, I.V.|author12= Prostakov, N.I.|author13= Roubenyan, H.R.|author14= Titov, S.V. |author15= Vekhov, D.A. |year=2017 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10750-016-2984-3 |title=Phylogeny and phylogeography of the roaches, genus ''Rutilus'' (Cyprinidae), at the Eastern part of its range as inferred from mtDNA analysis|journal=Hydrobiologia|volume= 788 |issue=1|pages= 33–46}}</ref>

The genera ''Leucos'' and ''Sarmarutilus'' have been recently separated from ''Rutilus'' and are closely related to it.<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 }}</ref>

==Etymology== ''Rutilus'' was chosen as the genus name by tautonymy with ''Cyprinus rutilus''; ''rutilus'' means red, golden red or reddish yellow, and is an allusion to the red colour of the fins.<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=16 April 2025 |work=The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>

==Species== ''Rutilus'' contains the following valid species:<ref name = "Cof genus"/> * ''Rutilus caspicus'' (Yakovlev, 1870) (Caspian roach) * ''Rutilus frisii'' (Nordmann, 1840) (Black Sea roach) * ''Rutilus heckelii'' (Nordmann, 1840) * ''Rutilus kutum'' (Kamensky, 1901) (Kutum) * ''Rutilus lacustris'' (Pallas, 1814) (Pontic roach) * ''Rutilus meidingeri'' (Heckel, 1851) (Pearlfish) * ''Rutilus pigus'' (Lacepède, 1803) (Pigo) * ''Rutilus rutilus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Common roach) * ''Rutilus sojuchbulagi'' Abdurakhmanov, 1950 (Akstafa spring roach) * ''Rutilus virgo'' (Heckel, 1852) (Cactus roach)

==Characteristics== ''Rutilus'', according to Rafinesque, was characterised by "''Vent posterior nearer to the tail. Abdominal fins with nine rays. Mouth large and with lips. Scales large.''"<ref name = Rafinesque>{{cite book |author=Richard Ellsworth Call |year=1899|orig-year=1820 |title=Ichthyologia Ohiensis|trans-title=or Natural History of the Fishes Inhabiting the River Ohio and its Tributary Streams |publisher=The Burrows Brothers Co}} includes a reprint of Rafinesque's original text</ref> The smallest species in the genus is ''R. sojuchbulagi'' with a maximum total length of {{cvt|7|cm}},<ref>{{cite book|author=Freyhof, Jörg|author2= Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran|author3= Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash |author4= Kaya, Cüneyt|year= 2025|title= Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia|page= 397 |url=https://zenodo.org/records/17820529}}</ref> while the largest are ''R. frisii'' and ''R. meidingeri'' with a maximum total length of {{cvt|70|cm}}.<ref name = FB/>

==Distribution== ''Rutilus'' is a widely distributed genus of leuciscids and fishes from this genus are found from Western Europe to Eastern Siberia.<ref name = Levin>{{cite journal |author=B. A. Levin |author2=E. P. Simonov |author3=O. A. Ermakov |author4=M. A. Levina |author5=E. A. Interesova |author6=O. M. Kovalchuk |author7=Y. A. Malinina |author8=N. S. Mamilov |author9=N. J. Mustafayev |author10=D. V. Pilin |author11=I. V. Pozdeev |author12=N. I. Prostakov |author13=H. R. Roubenyan |author14=S. V. Titov |author15=D. A. Vekhov |display-authors=3 |year=2016 |title=Phylogeny and phylogeography of the roaches, genus ''Rutilus'' (Cyprinidae), at the Eastern part of its range as inferred from mtDNA analysis |journal=Hydrobiologia |volume=788 |issue=1 |pages=33-46 |doi=10.1007/s10750-016-2984-3}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Rutilus Category:Leuciscinae Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque