Gobio kizilirmakensis is distinguished from all congeners in Anatolia and adjacent areas by having the following combination of characters: scales on belly smaller than pupil; head length 26-29 % SL, with length 1.3-1.5 times body depth; snout rounded, conspicuously shorter than postorbital distance (postorbital distance 1.3-1.6 times snout length); width of mouth gape conspicuously greater than its length, with width 1.3-1.6 times its length; preanal length 68-74 % SL; prepelvic length 47-52 % SL; length of caudal peduncle 2.1-2.7 times its depth; distance between pelvic-fin origin and anal-fin origin 3.0-4.4 times distance between anus and anal-fin origin; lateral line with 38- 42 + 1-3 scales; scale rows between anus and anal-fin origin 5-6 ; scale rows between posterior extremity of pelvic-fin base and anus 8-10; and 8-9 midlateral black blotches (greater than eye diameter), commonly separated from one another (Ref. 115536).