The Valencia hispanica or Valencia toothcarp (samaruc in Valencian

Valencian

Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...

) is a species of freshwater fish

Freshwater fish

Freshwater fish are fish that spend some or all of their lives in freshwater, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 0.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, the most obvious being the difference in levels of salinity...

 in the Cyprinodontidae family endemic to the Valencian Community

Valencian Community

The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

Its natural abitat] are marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es, freshwater spring

Spring (hydrosphere)

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

s, coastal freshwater lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s and acequia

Acequia

An acequia or séquia is a community-operated waterway used in Spain and former Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day American Southwest, acequias are usually historically engineered canals that carry snow runoff or...

s which may connect these. It is threatened by pollution and habitat loss.

Description

It is a small fish whose colour is between light brown and yellow. Adult males oscillate between 4-8cms and can be distinguished from females in that the rim of their fins is orangish. Also, females are slightly larger than their male counterparts of the same age.

It is a gregarious fish, which forms small shoals. The species is carnivore

Carnivore

A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...

, feeding on insects, larvae, worms, etc.

Conservation status

Valencia toothcarp is listed as an endangered species by Spanish and international legislation. Its populations dwindled as a result of land reclamation

Land reclamation

Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...

, a phenomenon quite intense in Valencia during the 1980s as a part of the touristic boom. The increased human population which followed also brought increased pollution and introduced species

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

, both factors further damaging the samaruc populations.

It has been recently object of a conservation and reintroduction

Reintroduction

Reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild in zones formerly inhabited by said species but where it has disappeared from for a number of reasons, from captivity or relocated from other areas where the species still survives in...

 program carried out by the Environment department of the Valencian regional government

Generalitat Valenciana

The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organised....

which has reversed further declines.

Sources

• Crivelli, A.J. 2005. Valencia hispanica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 August 2007.
• Centro de Acuicultura Experimental ,