Kessler's gudgeon (Romanogobio kesslerii)
General data
- Main name: Kessler's gudgeon
- Climates: Temperate, Continental
- Habitat: Freshwater
- Native: Europe
- Distribution: Danube, Vistula
Classification
- Genus: Romanogobio - Roman gudgeons
- Family: Gobionidae - Gudgeons
- Order: Cypriniformes - Carps
- Class: Actinopteri - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
The Kessler's gudgeon (Romanogobio kesslerii) is found in the Danube and Vistula drainage basins, including parts of Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
It is a small fish of no economic or sporting importance. It was at one time classified as Gobio kesslerii.
Kessler's gudgeon is a shallow-bodied, silvery fish with a pointed snout that grows to a length of about 12 centimetres (4.7 in) or occasionally 15 centimetres (5.9 in). It has a pair of barbels by the mouth which help it locate food and which are long enough to reach to the far side of the eye.
The throat is scale-less, and there are 40 to 42 scales along the lateral line. The dorsal fin is made up of eight or nine branched rays.
