Kingdom Animalia Order Perciformes Genus Tristramella Higher classification Tristramella Found in Sea of Galilee | Phylum Chordata Family Cichlidae Scientific name Tristramella sacra Rank Species | |
Similar Tristramella, Tristramella simonis, Cichlid, Astatotilapia flaviijosephi, Perciformes | ||
Tristramella sacra (Hebrew: טברנון לסתני ) is a possibly extinct species of cichlid fish that was endemic to the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It has not been recorded since 1990, despite searches both of the lake and in local markets, and may therefore be extinct. This species can reach a length of 28 centimetres (11 in) TL.
T. sacra's spawning ground was the marshy northern margin of the lake. This dried out in 1991 and again in the mid-1990s, destroying this species' breeding habitat and therefore possibly causing its disappearance.
Water levels in the Sea of Galilee may have been under stress since Israel's National Water Carrier was built in 1964, and this stress may have been increased since the Israel–Jordan peace treaty of 1994 committed Israel to supply 50 million cubic meters of water per year from the lake to Jordan.