In Europe it has been confirmed in the Elbe River system in the Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, and the Neretva basin in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[9] Additionally, a 2018 study using mtDNA discovered the fish in Lake Tahoe, California and in a pond on the campus of the University of British Columbia, the first time this species has been found in North America.

[6] Also in 2020, this species was reported for the first time in Iran after several specimens were collected from Siah Palas stream in Lar National Park.

However, the triploid and rare tetraploid forms practice a type of asexual reproduction known as gynogenesis, in which the sperm contributes no genetic material, but its presence is required for egg development.

[3][13] The clonal nature of polyploid ginbuna makes them an ideal model fish for studying diseases of other cyprinid species.