Molecular analyses suggest that this taxon might be conspecific with the Vardar Spined Loach (Cobitis vardarensis), albeit no explicit systematic review has yet been published (Barbieri et al. 2015, Perdices et al. 2018). Moreover, there exists unpublished data indicating that it is genetically distinct, therefore further research is required (S. Zogaris pers. comm.).

The Velestino Spined Loach is putatively endemic to the Lake Karla basin in Thessaly, central Greece. It has a restricted range (extent of occurrence (EOO) c. 1,280 km²), which meets the threshold for the Endangered category under Criterion B1 (EOO < 5,000 km²). The Lake Karla basin is treated as a single location based on pollution from the Pineios River being treated as the most serious plausible threat which could affect the whole population. The extent and quality of habitat are observed to be declining, therefore, this species is assessed as Endangered under Criterion B (B1ab(iii)).

This species is putatively endemic to the Lake Karla (el. Κάρλα) basin in Thessaly, central Greece. It has to date been reported from two locations situated at opposite ends of the catchment, comprising its type locality in the village of Velestino and a second site east of the city of Larissa where it was recorded in 2001.

Lake Karla itself lies between these two locations, and Cobitis individuals sampled there during the 2010s exhibited phenotypic characters corresponding to the Velestino Spined Loach but were not identified to species level. However, individuals sampled at other sites in the basin during 2011 and 2014 were identified as the congeneric Vardar Spined Loach (see ‘Taxonomic Notes’).

This species was extirpated from the Velestino spring after it dried out in 1998 (see 'Threats'), and has only been recorded elsewhere on a single occasion. Its current population size and trend are therefore unclear.

In Velestino this species inhabited a groundwater-fed spring, the source of which has been modified to retain water in a shallow concrete pool. The Chasambali location appears to comprise a spring draining into an artificial water supply channel.

Karla was a naturally fluctuating shallow lake and among the most biodiverse freshwater wetlands in Greece until 1962, when it was completely drained for flood prevention and land reclamation. It currently consists of an artificial reservoir and channel network plus a series of small storage ponds maintained largely by water diverted from the Pineios River. The river formerly flooded the Karla basin during periods of elevated flow but is now managed to prevent inundation of agricultural and urban areas (see 'Conservation'). The local aquifer covers an area of c. 500km² in the lower part of the basin, more than 80% of which is occupied by farmland.

Cobitis species are exclusively benthic and largely feed by filtering mouthfuls of fine material through the gills, from which minute organic particles and small benthic organisms are extracted and consumed. They are also facultative air-breathers that makes use of the hindgut as an accessory air-breathing organ.

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

The draining of Lake Karla drove a series of negative ecological events in its catchment, including a dramatic drawdown of the water table, soil salinisation, reduced crop production and loss of the local commercial fishery. The lowering of groundwater is understood to be largely responsible for drying of the spring at Velestino, which has not held water since the late 1990s.

Attempts to partially restore the lake have been underway for a number of years (see 'Conservation'). However, its level is principally maintained by water obtained from the Pineios River, the quality of which is strongly impacted by both diffuse and point source pollution as it flows through the heavily-cultivated Thessalian Plain. Moreover, runoff from arable agriculture and riparian cattle grazing within the Karla basin is further increasing the levels of organic nutrients and other contaminants entering the system including its aquifer. Unsustainable water abstraction is a continued issue, with almost 98% of local groundwater resources exploited to cover irrigation requirements via private extraction wells. Lake Karla is currently characterised as eutrophic to hypertrophic with frequent cyanobacterial blooms, and represents a highly-modified water body of poor/bad ecological status according to the classification scheme of the European Union's Water Framework Directive.

Climate change is likely to drive increasingly frequent and severe drought periods in the Thessaly region, which could plausibly exacerbate these issues.

A number of non-native fish species are established in Lake Karla. These include Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), Prussian Carp (Carassius gibelio), Common Carp (Cyprinus domestic strain) and Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) all of which are documented to exert negative impacts on native freshwater fauna. It is currently unclear if these species occur in the wider Karla basin.

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.

Part of its range is covered by the 'Karla - Mavrovouni - Kefalovryso Velestinou - Neochori' protected area. This site is listed in the European Union's Natura 2000 network (site GR1420004), and the Velestino Spined Loach is a specific target species. In addition, Lake Karla was in 2010 designated a Permanent Wildlife Refuge under Greek national law, and is a Special Protected Area for birds.

A major project to restore Lake Karla has resulted in the construction of an artificial reservoir to which water has been supplied since 2012. The primary objectives of this scheme were to establish a new wetland and partially alleviate groundwater exploitation, especially in the southern portion of the basin. Flood runoff is pumped from the Pineios River to the lake via man-made ditches, and a series of collector channels are supposed to direct surface runoff to this system from higher elevations. The lake has no natural outflow, so an artificial tunnel connecting it to the Pagasetic Gulf is in principal designed to reduce water retention time but is currently closed. A series of proposed management measures aiming to improve habitat and water quality, including the reestablishment of fish nursery zones at the southern end of the lake, have not yet been completed in full and their implementation is strongly recommended.

This species' systematic status is in need of revision prior to establishing any specific conservation management plan (see 'Taxonomic Notes'). Should it be resolved as a valid taxon then its population status, response to the recognised threats and identification of potential conservation sites should be viewed as priority actions.