Global and European regional assessment: Near Threatened (NT)
EU 27 regional assessment: Vulnerable (VU°)

The Ohrid Spined Loach does not approach the range thresholds for Vulnerable under Criterion B1 (extent of occurrence (EOO) < 20,000 km²) or D2. No explicit area of occupancy (AOO), population size or trend data are available, and the probability of extinction has not been quantified, hence the remaining criteria are presently inapplicable. However, a suspected population reduction based on declining habitat quality could conceivably approach or meet the threshold for Vulnerable under Criterion A2 (≥ 30% over the longer of 10 years or three generations). As a result of this data uncertainty, Least Concern and Vulnerable are equally plausible Red List categories for the present assessment, and this species is assessed as Near Threatened at the global and European regional scales.

In the EU 27 member states, the EOO is c. 491 km² and this species occurs at one to three locations where habitat quality is estimated to be declining. However, the regional population comprises part of a much larger subpopulation which occupies a transboundary river system. Therefore, its assessment is downlisted by one category from Endangered to Vulnerable under Criterion B (B1ab(iii)).

This species is endemic to the Western Balkans region, where its range extends from the Bojana (sq. Bunë) River in Montenegro and northern Albania to the Vjosa (el. Αώος/Aoös) River in southern Albania and Greece, including the Skadar (sq. Liqeni i Shkodrës; cnr. Skadarsko jezero) and Ohrid (sq. Liqeni i Ohrit; mk. Охридско Езеро) lake basins. It is absent from the upper reaches of rivers draining to Lake Skadar, including the isolated Nikšić polje in the upper Zeta River catchment.

The overall number of locations is unknown, but in the EU 27 member states it is restricted to one to three locations in the upper-middle Vjosa River system, Greece, where it is most abundant in the Konitsa (el. Κόνιτσα) Plain.

This species' current population size and trend have not been quantified, but an ongoing reduction which may have exceeded 30% within the past three generations is suspected as a result of a continued decline in habitat quality. The number of extant subpopulations is unclear.

Field observations are indicative of a suspected decline in some parts of its range, e.g., the Lake Skadar basin, some Albanian rivers (see 'Threats').

In the EU 27 member states a single subpopulation is present in the Vjosa River, but it is part of a significantly larger subpopulation that includes downstream reaches in Albania.

This small-bodied species is strictly benthic and somewhat eurytopic, inhabiting lakes, spring-fed wetlands, artificial channels and low-gradient rivers and streams with little water movement and substrata of fine sediment, mud, sand or gravel, often with dense aquatic vegetation. It was typically found in shallow water with an abundance of filamentous algae during field surveys in the Morača River, Montenegro.

Like other Cobitis species, it feeds by filtering mouthfuls of fine material through the gills, from which minute organic particles and small benthic organisms are extracted and consumed. It is also a facultative air-breather that makes use of its hindgut as an accessory air-breathing organ.

Little is known of its life history, but related species tend to spawn among submerged vegetation, where the eggs are retained until they hatch.

This species is plausibly threatened by river regulation and other forms of anthropogenic habitat degradation throughout its range. In particular, the ongoing construction of large dams plus smaller weirs and other barriers has severely altered natural flow and sedimentation regimes, degraded floodplains, and reduced the extent of suitable habitat for all life stages.

The quality of available habitat has been further diminished by bank stabilisation, canalisation and other efforts to enhance flood protection or exploit water resources for irrigated agriculture. Some habitats may also have been damaged by the industrial extraction of riverine gravel or other sediments for urban development.

This species is also threatened by diffuse and point source agricultural, domestic and industrial pollution, which has at some locations reduced the extent and quality of habitat due to eutrophication, siltation or discharge of toxic substances. Pollution can be particularly impactful when river discharge is reduced during the summer.

Most rivers entering lakes Ohrid and Skadar flow through areas undergoing rapid human population growth and urbanisation with insufficient water treatment systems. The lake ecosystems are thus threatened by accumulation of anthropogenic nutrients, chemicals and sediment loads from a variety of sources, including untreated domestic sewage, industry and agriculture, which are driving increased rates of eutrophication and sedimentation with an array of negative impacts on the composition of plant and animal communities.

The development of tourist facilities, increased boat traffic, and ongoing capture and pollution of karstic springs in the two basins are also of concern. Plastics and other solid wastes are regularly washed into the lakes because effective landfill sites are limited or do not meet modern standards.

In Lake Ohrid, excessive water abstraction and eutrophication in neighbouring Lake Prespa (sq. Liqeni i Prespës; mk. Преспанско Езеро; el. λίμνη Πρέσπα), which which it shares a subterranean hydraulic karstic connection, is believed to be partially responsible for increasing nutrient levels. In addition, the nearby Sateska River was in 1962 diverted from its former confluence with the Drin (sq. Drini; mk. Дрим) River into Lake Ohrid in order to improve the water balance of the lake and enhance its potential for hydropower generation. However, the Sateska has since become a major source of biochemical oxygen demand and sediments transported into the lake.

An observed decline in the abundance of native fishes in Lake Skadar since the mid-20^th century has been attributed to a series of factors. In particular, the construction of large hydropower dams on the Drin River has interfered with seasonal fluctuations in the lake's water level and reduced the extent of spawning and nursery habitat. Future plans include the installation of several dams on the inflowing Morača River, which supplies c. 62% of the lake's water. Furthermore, the Morača is polluted due to discharge of agricultural, domestic and industrial contaminants, the majority of which originate from Nikšić Polje, the Bjelopavlići Valley and city of Podgorica. The lake has thus become increasingly eutrophic since the 1970s, and this process has driven structural changes in the resident planktonic and zoobenthic communities. A number of non-native fish species have been introduced, including Goldfish (Carassius auratus), Common Carp (Cyprinus domestic strain), Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Eurasian Tench (Tinca tinca), Eurasian Perch (Perca fluviatilis), Eurasian Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), Northern Pike (Esox lucius), Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), Topmouth Gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva), Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). All of these taxa are considered to be invasive throughout the Mediterranean region, and can exert detrimental pressures on native freshwater fauna through increased competition, predation or habitat degradation.

In the EU 27 member states this species is restricted to canals and springs which receive receive diffuse agricultural pollution as they draining an extensively-cultivated upland plateau.

This species is not used or traded.

This species is included (originally as Cobitis taenia) in Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Annex II of the European Union Habitats Directive.

The North Macedonian portion of Lake Ohrid has been included in UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites since 1979, while a bilateral agreement between Albania and North Macedonia resulted in establishment of the Ohrid Watershed Management Committee in 2004 and the Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in 2014. At the national scale a number of additional protected sites have been created around the lake, including the Pogradec Aquatic and Terrestrial Protected Landscape and Drilon National Monument in Albania, and the Lake Ohrid Monument of Nature and Galicica National Park in North Macedonia. In April 2021 Lake Ohrid was added to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

The Montenegrin part of Lake Skadar was declared a National Park in 1983 and designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1995, while the Albanian portion was nationally-protected and added to the Ramsar Convention in 2005. The lower Zeta River in Montenegro has been a protected area since 2019.

In 2023, the entire Vjosa River catchment was designated as Europe's first Wild River National Park. A number of sites in the upper Vjosa, Greece, are additionally included in the European Union's Natura 2000 network.

The Ohrid Spined Loach is also present within the boundaries of several protected areas in the Drin River system.

A deeper understanding of this species' present distribution, abundance, population dynamics, life history and response to the ongoing threats would likely prove beneficial in the design of any structured management plan.