Marble trout

© Perica Mustafić

Marble trout are an Adriatic basin endemic that reach 24 kg in size (Delling 2002) making them extremely popular for sport fisheries. In our study region, they occur in: 1) Soca basin in Slovenia, also the Rižana and Reka rivers, 2) Neretva basin in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and 3) Skadar basin in Montenegro (Zeta, Morača and Cijevna rivers) (Maric 1995, Mrdak et al. 2012), where the species is becoming very rare. Hybridization with introduced Salmo trutta is a major problem throughout the range of marbled trout (Meraner et al. 2010; Pustovrh et al. 2011; Sušnik Bajec et al. 2015). The last pure populations in Slovenia are found in a few very small and isolated tributaries of the Idrijca drainage (see http://www.balkan-trout.com/studied_taxa_7_marble_trout.htm).

Hydropower expansion on the upper Cijevna River (Cemi River) in Albania, the Morača River in Montenegro, and the Neretva River in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as the Soca basin in Slovenia post a threat for at least 50% if not 75% of the species Balkan range.

  • IUCN-Redlist Least Concern
  • EUR-HAB-DIR ---
  • Bern Convention ---
  • Hydropower Sensitivity High
  • Balkan Dam Threat * 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.

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