Scientists conducted an inspection of fish in Tajikistan

Fig. 1. The book by G.V. Nikolsky “Fish of Tajikistan”, published in 1938.

"Fish of Tajikistan" was the title of the monograph by Georgy Vasilyevich Nikolsky, the founder of the Moscow School of Ichthyology and the Laboratory of Ecology of Lower Vertebrates at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS). Nikolsky's solid summary was published in 1938 and became a reference book for ichthyologists studying fish in Central Asia for a long time. Since then, much has changed in the fish fauna of Tajikistan's water bodies, but there has been no proper review of the current state of the fauna.

Fig. 2. Examples of biotopes in some watercourses and reservoirs of Tajikistan, where samples were collected: A) the Syr Darya River near Khujand; B) the Kafirinigan River, about 12 km from the confluence with the Amu Darya; C) the Shirkent River; D) the Vakhsh River; E) the Muksu River; F) the Pamir River; G) the Akbaital River; H) Lake Karakul. Photographs by O.N. Artaev.

An international team of scientists led by B.A. Levin, an employee of the Laboratory of Ecology of Lower Vertebrates at the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has revised the modern ichthyofauna of Tajikistan and analyzed the changes that have occurred over the past century. The basis for the information on the modern fish fauna was provided by two ichthyological expeditions carried out in 2017 and 2019 with the support of grants from the Russian Science Foundation (15-14-10020 and 19-14-00218). During the expeditions, 52 stations in the Amu Darya, Syr Darya basins and endorheic basins at altitudes from 330 to 4050 m above sea level were fished. In particular, the high-mountain lakes of the Pamirs were studied - Lake Yashilkul (altitude 3734 m) and Lake Karakul (altitude 3914 m). The result of field, laboratory and analytical work was a large 55-page article published in the Q1 Scopus journal.

Fig. 3. Lifetime photographs of some salmon and carp fish species in Tajikistan: A) Amu-Darya trout *Salmo oxianus* (Aguyurma River); B) scaly-sided trout *Capoetobrama kuschakewitschi* (Kafirnigan River); C) Kholchik's minnow *Alburnoides holciki* (Vakhsh River); D) Aral roach *Ritilus ritilus aralensis* (Syr Darya River); D) striped bystranka *Alburnus taeniatus* (Zerafshan River). Scale: 10 mm. Author of the photographs: O.N. Artaev.

Scientists have found that the ichthyofauna of Tajikistan is represented by 60 fish species, of which 44 are native and 15 are alien. At the same time, one species is represented by both native and alien populations. The modern fish fauna is represented by eight orders (Acipenseriformes, Cypriniformes, Cyprinodontiformes, Gobiiformes, Perciformes, Salmoniformes, Siluriformes, and Synbranchiformes) and 18 families (Acipenseridae, Acheilognathidae, Channidae, Cobitidae, Cottidae, Cyprinidae, Esocidae, Gobiidae, Gobionidae, Leuciscidae, Nemacheilidae, Odontobutidae, Percidae, Poeciliidae, Salmonidae, Siluridae, Sisoridae, and Xenocyprididae). Of which the most represented are the families Leuciscidae (14 species), Nemacheilidae (13 species), and Cyprinidae (9 species). Significant changes in the fauna have occurred over the past century due to anthropogenic and climatic changes in Central Asia. Water withdrawal for irrigation, the creation of a network of canals and reservoirs have led to changes in the hydrological regime of natural water bodies. These factors, along with overfishing and poaching, have led to a significant reduction in the number of at least eight species and the disappearance of two sturgeon species (the sturgeon Acipenser nudiventris and the Syr Darya shovelnose sturgeon Pseudoscaphirhynchus fedtschenkoi). A significant change in the fish fauna was caused by the mass introduction of commercially valuable fish species in the 20th century, which led to the naturalization of 16 alien species, most of which are not commercially valuable, but accidentally introduced.

Fig. 4. Lifetime photographs of some species of catfish and char fishes from Tajikistan: A) Turkestan catfish *Glyptosternon cf. akhtari* (Vakhsh River); B) spotted thicklip loach *Triplophysa strauchi* (Zerafshan River); C) comb char *Paracobitis longicauda* (Varzob River); D) Aral spined loach *Sabanejewia aralensis* (Kafrinigan River); E) Sokh stone roach *Triplophysa cf. daryoae* (Dehmay Creek near Khojent); F) Tibetan stone loach *Triplophysa stolickai s. lato* (Pamir River). Scale: 10 mm. Author of photographs – O.N. Artaev.

The article is published in open access: Artaev, O., Thoni, R., Mirzoev, N., & Levin, B. (2025). Ichthyofauna of Tajikistan: Diversity and Changes Over the Past Century. American Museum Novitates, 2025(4032), 1-55.