Research Article

Revalidation of the Spanish stone loach Barbatula hispanica (Lelek, 1987) (Teleostei, Nemacheilidae) according to morphological and mitochondrial data

¹ Unité Mixte de Service Patrimoine Naturel – Centre d’expertise et de données (UMS 2006 OFB – CNRS – MNHN), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 36 rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire CP 41, 75005 Paris, France
² UMR Biologie des organismes et écosystèmes aquatiques (BOREA 8067), MNHN, CNRS, IRD, SU, UCN, UA, 57 rue Cuvier CP26, 75005 Paris, France
³ National Museum of Natural Sciences MNCN, Spanish Research Council, Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2 Str., 28006 Madrid, Spain
⁴ Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB – UMR 7205–CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier CP26, 75005 Paris, France
⁵ Maladie Infectieuse et Vecteurs, Écologie, Génétique, Évolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC), IRD, CNRS UMR 5175, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier cedex 5, France
⁶ Société Française d'Ichtyologie, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier CP26, 75005 Paris, France

^* Corresponding author: gael.denys@mnhn.fr

Received: 18 January 2021
Accepted: 15 April 2021

Abstract

This study revalidates Barbatula hispanica, previously considered a junior synonym of B. quignardi. This species is found in the Ebro drainage and in Cantabria (Spain) as well as in the Adour drainage (Southwestern France). It is characterized by an upper lip with a well-marked medial incision and an interorbital width 18.5–33.7% of the HL. The species delineation is corroborated by the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 molecular marker. We provide the sequence of 12S rDNA (950 bp) as reference for environmental DNA studies, and discuss also the taxonomy of B. quignardi which would be restricted to the Lez River.