Leucos


Leucos is a genus of fishes in the family Leuciscidae, from Southern Europe. They are a taxon which is closely related to the genus Rutilus, and were only recently taxonomically distinguished from that genus.
Molecular data suggest that Leucos diverged from Rutilus more than five million years ago, probably during the Messinian salinity crisis. The species of Leucos are typically of small size and they all live in still waters. They differ from Rutilus by the lack of spinous tubercles on scales and head in reproductive males, and also in the pharyngeal teeth formula. The sister group to Leucos is the monotypic Sarmarutilus.

Species

There are currently five recognized species in the genus:Leucos albus Marić, 2010 Leucos aula Bonaparte, 1841 Leucos basak Heckel, 1843 Leucos panosi Bogutskaya & Iliadou, 2006 Leucos ylikiensis Economidis, 1991