Taxonomy & naming
Anatolichthys maeandricus was originally described by the Turkish ichthyologist F. Akşiray in 1948 as a subspecies, Aphanius chantrei maeandricus, nominally uniting it with the Tigris-basin A. chantrei of far southeastern Turkey. This arrangement sits awkwardly with modern biogeography — the type locality implied by the epithet maeandricus lies in the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) river system of western Turkey, hundreds of kilometres from the Tigris headwaters — and likely reflects the limited comparative material and coarser taxonomic resolution available in Turkish ichthyology at the time, rather than a genuine close relationship between the two populations. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes now recognises maeandricus as a full species, and, following the broader revision that placed the Anatolian lake-and-spring toothcarps in the resurrected genus Anatolichthys, the currently valid combination is Anatolichthys maeandricus (Akşiray, 1948).
The specific epithet is a direct toponym: maeandricus, 'of the Maeander', refers to the Büyük Menderes river of the Aegean region of western Turkey, whose sinuous, looping course through the ancient region of Caria gave rise to the English verb 'to meander'. The species therefore sits geographically and, by current understanding, phylogenetically with the western Anatolian Anatolichthys populations of the Aegean drainages, rather than with the eastern chantrei populations of the Tigris system its original subspecific name implied.
This fish was long listed as a subspecies of Aphanius chantrei (as Aphanius chantrei maeandricus); Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes recognises it as a full species in the genus Anatolichthys, and the current combination Anatolichthys maeandricus is followed here.
Morphology
Dedicated morphological description of Anatolichthys maeandricus beyond the original 1948 subspecies account is sparse in the sources consulted. As in other small Anatolichthys, a body length in the range of roughly 1.5–2.5 in total length is expected, with the genus's characteristic laterally compressed, moderately deep body and upturned, surface-feeding mouth.
Sexual dichromatism can be expected to follow the near-universal Anatolichthys pattern: males patterned with pale, often blue-tinged vertical bars or blotches on a darker ground colour, most vivid in breeding condition, and females plainer, cryptically brown to olive, and rounder-bodied when gravid. Species-specific measurements and colour-pattern description for maeandricus were not located and should be treated as provisional pending a modern redescription.
Habitat
Anatolichthys maeandricus is associated with the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) river drainage of western Turkey — a substantial Aegean-flowing river system draining the historical region of Caria through Aydın and Denizli Provinces. Unlike the closed, terminal-lake basins that host several of its Anatolian relatives (Lake Burdur, Lake Acıgöl, the Konya Basin), the Büyük Menderes is an open drainage reaching the Aegean Sea, and the species is expected to occupy springs, backwaters, and slow-flowing marginal habitats along the river system and its tributaries rather than a single terminal lake.
As with other Anatolian Aphaniidae, hard, alkaline water reflecting the calcareous geology of the region is expected. The Büyük Menderes basin has been heavily modified for agriculture over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with extensive irrigation infrastructure and documented water-quality pressures from agricultural and industrial run-off in its lower reaches; these pressures are consistent with the broader pattern of habitat degradation affecting small-bodied, spring-associated fish across western Anatolia. Precise, published locality and water-chemistry data specific to A. maeandricus were not located in the sources consulted, and this habitat account should be read as inferred from the regional drainage context rather than direct field data.
Feeding
No dedicated dietary study of Anatolichthys maeandricus was located. By analogy with its Anatolian relatives, a micropredatory, opportunistically omnivorous diet is expected — small aquatic invertebrates, zooplankton, and insect larvae taken at and near the water surface, supplemented by algae and detritus. In captivity, congeners of this genus accept a broad range of small live, frozen, and dried foods.
Mating
Species-specific breeding behaviour for Anatolichthys maeandricus has not been documented in the sources consulted. As an inhabitant of a permanent river system rather than a temporary pool, it is expected to follow the non-annual, plant-spawning mode general to the genus — fractional spawning of small batches of adhesive eggs onto vegetation or algae across an extended warm-season period, without diapause or a dry resting phase.
Breeding
No published breeding or aquarium-propagation account for Anatolichthys maeandricus was located. By analogy with better-studied congeners, eggs would be expected to be adhesive, incubating directly in water over roughly one to two weeks at typical temperatures, with fry accepting fine live foods soon after becoming free-swimming. This account should be treated as inferential rather than field- or captive-verified, given the species' apparent absence from both the published breeding literature and the aquarium hobby.
In the aquarium
Anatolichthys maeandricus does not appear to be an established aquarium species; no hobbyist husbandry accounts were located in the sources consulted, and it is likely unfamiliar even to most specialist killifish keepers outside Turkey. Prospective keepers should not expect to source this species through ordinary aquarium trade channels.
Where the species might be maintained, care would be expected to follow the general Anatolichthys template established for its better-known relatives: hard, alkaline water, a secure lid against jumping, and moderate temperatures reflecting the seasonal climate of western Anatolia.
Conservation
Anatolichthys maeandricus appears on the CARES Fish Preservation Program priority list, classified Near Threatened (CNT), placing it among a cluster of narrowly distributed Anatolian toothcarps that the hobby is asked to help safeguard through documented captive breeding where feasible.
No species-specific IUCN Red List assessment was located. The Büyük Menderes basin the species inhabits has been subject to extensive agricultural development, irrigation abstraction, and documented water-quality degradation in its middle and lower reaches, pressures broadly consistent with the declines already well documented for several other small-bodied Anatolian Aphaniidae. In the absence of dedicated field survey data for this specific population, the CARES Near Threatened classification should be understood as a precautionary designation reflecting this regional pattern of habitat pressure rather than a fully quantified population assessment. A targeted field survey and formal IUCN evaluation would meaningfully improve understanding of the species' current status.