Salmo obtusirostris

Salmo obtusirostris is found naturally in four drainages of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro: the Neretva-Vrljika system, the Jadro, the Morača-Zeta system, and possibly the Krka river drainage around Knin although it is presumed extinct for some time now.

In addition, sometimes during 1960's, it has been introduced from the Jadro river to the nearby Žrnovnica river, both being small karst, single river drainages, of very short course, in vicinity of Split.

Although the Vrljika belongs to the Neretva River drainage it's a sinking river, divided into several surface and underground segments, hence separated from the Neretva River in significant manner regarding the softmouth trout populations. However, the Vrljika softmouth trout is apparently most similar to the Neretva's subspecies, while some autapomorphies exist in the Vrljika population. The Vrljika softmouth trout appears to have originated from a vicariance that split a common ancestral population into large (Neretva) and small (Vrljika) fragmented populations.{{cite web|title=Softmouth trout from the River Vrljika – Salmo obtusirostris ssp.|url=http://www.balkan-trout.com/studied_taxa_1_5_vrljika.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107030227/http://www.balkan-trout.com/studied_taxa_1_5_vrljika.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 7, 2009|website=balkan-trout.com|publisher=Balkan Trout Restoration Group|access-date=3 April 2015|language=en}}

The different populations are sometimes classified into subspecies:

• Salmo obtusirostris oxyrhynchus: Neretva and its tributaries the Buna and its tributary Bunica, the Bregava, the Upperr and Lower Trebižat, and the Rama before construction of the Rama Dam, in Bosnia and Herzegovina; it also inhabit the Vrljika within both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.{{sfn|Weiss|Đug|Marčić|Oikonomou|2018|pp=118-123}}
• Salmo obtusirostris salonitana: the Jadro River and the Žrnovnica River (introduced from the nearby Jadro in the 1960's) in Croatia;{{sfn|Weiss|Đug|Marčić|Oikonomou|2018|pp=105, 112}}
• Salmo obtusirostris krkensis: the Krka river (inhabited only about one kilometer of the river's headwater, but is now most likely extinct);{{sfn|Weiss|Đug|Marčić|Oikonomou|2018|p=112}} in Croatia
• Salmo obtusirostris zetensis: the Zeta River and the Morača River in Montenegro.{{sfn|Weiss|Đug|Marčić|Oikonomou|2018|pp=124-129}}

File:Softmouth.jpg

The most obvious characteristic of the Adriatic trout is an elongated snout. It also has a small and fleshy mouth, relatively large scales and high body depth. The color of the body varies between subspecies, it is mostly green with red and black dots. There are no vertical stripes that are common in brown trout of the Adriatic Sea drainages that can be found.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}

Adriatic trout are threatened by excessive damming, hybridization with introduced species and overfishing. In the river Neretva, natural hybrids (named kosor by locals) between Adriatic and brown trout can be found. Hybridization was also confirmed experimentally.{{cite journal|author=Kosoric, D. |author2= Vukovic, T. |year=1969|title=A research of possibilities of hybridization of Salmonidae species of the Neretva river confluence|journal=Ichthyologia |volume=1|issue=1|pages= 57-67}} Adriatic trout prefers rivers with more water and wide riverbed. Adriatic and brown trout have different spawning times that overlap only slightly every few years, which is why natural hybridization is not widespread and both species live sympatrically in the same rivers.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Weiss |first1=Steven Joseph |last2=Đug |first2=Samir |last3=Marčić |first3=Zoran |last4=Oikonomou |first4=Anthi |last5=Shumka |first5=Spase |last6=Mušović |first6=Aldijana |last7=Škrijelj |first7=Rifat |last8=Simonović |first8=Predag |last9=Vesnić |first9=Adi |title=Endangered Fish Species in Balkan Rivers: Their distributions and threats from hydropower development |via=ResearchGate |date=2018 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.22638.10563 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324602387 |access-date=6 January 2023 |publisher=Riverwatch and EuroNatur |language=en |format=pdf}}

{{Trouts}}

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obtusirostris

Category:Freshwater fish of Europe

Category:Endemic fish of the Neretva basin

Category:Fish of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Category:Fish described in 1851

Category:Endemic fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Category:Species that are or were threatened by river-damming

Category:Habitats Directive species