Twelve of the 522 species are already extinct, mainly due to population growth and the accompanying use of water, pollution and overfishing over the past 100 years, the IUCN said in a statement.

"With 200 fish species in Europe facing a high risk of going extinct we must act now to avoid a tragedy," said IUCN programme officer William Darwall.

"Many of these species, not considered as 'charismatic' or with any apparent 'value' to people, rarely attract the funds needed for their conservation -- they risk disappearing with only a dedicated few noticing the loss," he added.

The IUCN said the biggest single threat comes from water shortages in Mediterranean areas, which are increasingly leading to dried rivers in summer months as climate change progresses.

Endangered species include the European freshwater eel due to overfishing, dams, new parasites and pollution, the IUCN said.

Restoration of the species, which reproduces on average only once every 20 years, is expected to take several generations despite EU fishing restrictions passed this year, the scientific study added.

The extinct species include the houting, which was found in brackish waters of North Sea estuaries until the 1940s. Many species are regarded as important because they are part of a complex ecological chain in some areas.

Irrigation, flood control and power generation have also had major impacts on migratory species in large rivers.

Areas with the highest degree of threat to freshwater species include the lower Danube, the rivers Dniestr, Dniepr, Volga and Ural, much of the Balkan Peninsula, and southwestern Spain, the IUCN said.

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