Bechar: Discovery of fish species threatened with extinction in Western Erg

BECHAR (Algeria)- Apricaphanius saourensis, an endangered fish species, endemic to the Oued Saoura river in the country's southwest, was discovered in a waterway in an area of the Western Erg, a researcher and producer of movies and documentaries on biodiversity in the Sahara, Redouane Tahri, said Sunday.

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This species was put, in 2021, on the red list of aquatic species threatened with extinction, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), according to Tahri.

"After more than ten years of research, I have discovered, filmed and

Photographed the fish known as apricaphanius saourensis, a species of freshwater dogfish belonging to the family Aphaniidae, endemic to Oued Saoura river, one of the most important waterways of the country's southwest, formed from the meeting of two rivers, namely Oued Guir and Oued Zousfana, in the region of Igli, 78 km north of the capital of the province of Beni-Abbès (160 km south of Bechar), Tahri told APS.

"This major discovery of the freshwater fish species, endemic to Oued Saoura, whose males reach a standard length of 32 mm and females up to 34 mm, brings back the phenomenon of disappearance and reappearance of some animal species in the country's southwestern region, and encourages us to carry out more scientific research on the phenomenon."

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