| Abrau sprat | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Clupeiformes |
| Family: | Ehiravidae |
| Genus: | Clupeonella |
| Species: | C. abrau |
| Binomial name | |
| Clupeonella abrau (Maliatsky, 1930) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Abrau sprat (Clupeonella abrau) is a species of freshwater fish in the family Clupeidae. [2] It is found landlocked in Russia in a single locality, Lake Abrau, located at 70 m above sea level near the Black Sea coast close to Novorossiysk. [3] The lake is small and has been stocked by several alien species, whence the Abrau sprat is considered critically endangered. [4] As a result of the 2019 expedition, several individuals of the Abrau sprat were caught and their mitocondrial genome were sequenced, which showed their identity with the museum specimens. [5] This confirmed that the C. abrau is present in the fish community and is capable of reproducing in the Lake Abrau. [5]
A sprat of the Lake Apolyont in Turkey, linked to the Sea of Marmara, was earlier treated as a subspecies of the Abrau sprat, Clupeonella abrau muhilisi, but has more recently been considered an independent species Clupeonella muhlisi . [1] [6]