Zingel balcanicus (Karaman 1937)

Distinguished from its congeners by the combination of the following characters: first dorsal fin with 7-9 spines; second dorsal fin with 2 simple and 10-12½ branched rays; cheek scaleless or restricted at most to 2-6 scales in a single row along posterior edge of orbit; 73-83 + 5-6 scales along lateral (Ref. 59043).

Inhabits main rivers (Ref. 59043).

Zingel balcanicus, the Vardar streber is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Percidae, the perches, ruffes, pikeperches and the darters. This species is endemic to the Vardar or Axios River in North Macedonia and its distribution may extend to the lower reaches of the river in Greece. Its biology is little known but other species in the genus Zingel require turbulent flows.