Our group of allies is increasing! Scientists in our network not only lend their own data but also use their independent voices to advocate for the protection of rivers.
Save the Blue Heart of Europe - A campaign for the protection of Balkan Rivers
Ohrid spirlin
The Ohrid spirlin is listed as endemic to Lake Ohrid in Kottelat & Freyhof (2007) but local studies list the species as occurring in both Ohrid and Skadar lakes (Talevski et al. 2009; Talevska & Talevski 2015; Milošević & Talevski 2015). Previously treated as Alburnoides bipunctatus ohridanus, this lacustrine cyprinid fish uses the littoral zone as habitat, while spawning on rocky substrates (Talevska & Talevski 2015). The population in Lake Ohrid is likely not threatened by hydropower development, but populations in Lake Skadar, like many of the lakes endemics may be highly vulnerable to changes in water levels and/or introduced invasive species resulting from exploitation of the lake’s only major tributary, the Morača River (See Hotspot Morača/Skadar).
Twenty-seven planned dams (not shown here) in the Skadar Lake Basin could threaten or eliminate more than 50% of the species range.
- IUCN-Redlist Vulnerable
- EUR-HAB-DIR III
- Bern Convention III
- Hydropower Sensitivity Low to Moderate
- Balkan Dam Threat * Moderate to High
* The assessment of Balkan Dam Threat is based on the loss of habitat that would occur if all or most of the planned hydropower schemes in the distribution range of the species were to be built. For more precise specification see Fish Study, page 8.
