Schistura chrysicristinae Nalbant, 1998
Diyarbakır loach, Batman River loach
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Paraschistura chrysicristinae (Nalbant, 1998)
Conservation Status
Globally Rediscovered
Last record: 1970's (Freyhof, 2014)
Rediscovered in: 2021 (Freyhof et al., 2025:568; Kaya et al., 2026)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
Distribution & Habitat
upper Tigris, Turkey
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Nalbant, T. T. (1998). The presence of the genus Schistura (Pisces: Ostariophysi: Nemacheilidae) in Tigris drainage, western Asia. The description of a new species. Travaux du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 40: 371-375.
Other references:
Freyhof, J. (2014). Paraschistura chrysicristinae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T19889076A19967270. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T19889076A19967270.en. Downloaded on 20 December 2015.
Jörg Freyhof, F. Güler Ekmekçi, Atheer Ali, Najim R. Khamees, Müfit Özuluğ, Nashat Hamidan, Fahrettin Küçük and Kevin G. Smith. (2014). Freshwater Fishes, pp. 19-42. In: Smith, K. G., Barrios, V., Darwall, W. R. T. and Numa, C. (eds.). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Cambridge, UK, Malaga, Spain and Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. xiv + 132 pp.
Freyhof, Jörg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash and Kaya, Cüneyt. (2025). Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111677811 [pp. 568-569]
Kaya, C. et al. (2026). Rediscovery and re-description of Schistura chrysicristinae (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Zootaxa 5807(2): 339-350. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5807.2.5
Kottelat, M. (2012). Conspectus Cobitidum: An inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement No. 26: 1-199.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/20249/paraschistura-chrysicristinae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraschistura_chrysicristinae
https://shoalconservation.org/found-the-batman-river-loach/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/batman-river-loach-turkey-rediscovered-aoe