Reassessment of the taxonomic position of Iranocypris typhlops Bruun & Kaiser, 1944 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae)

By

Farashi, Azita
Kaboli, Mohammad, 1974-
Rezaei, Hamid Reza
Naghavi, Mohammad Reza
Rahimian, Hassan
Coad, Brian W.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

374

Pages

69-77

Subjects

Garra , Iranian cave barb , Iranocypris typhlops , Phylogeny

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.374.6617

 

Abstract

The Iranian cave barb (Iranocypris typhlops Bruun & Kaiser, 1944) is a rare and endemic species of the family Cyprinidae known from a single locality in the Zagros Mountains, western Iran. This species is “Vulnerable” according to the IUCN Red List and is one of the top four threatened freshwater fish species in Iran. Yet, the taxonomic position of I. typhlops is uncertain. We examined phylogenetic relationships of this species with other species of the family Cyprinidae based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Our results show that I. typhlops is monophyletic and is sister taxon of a cluster formed by Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843) and Garra barreimiae (Fowler & Steinitz, 1956) within a clade that includes other species of the genus Garra. Based on previous molecular and morphological studies, as well as our new results, we recommend that I. typhlops should be transferred to the genus Garra Hamilton, 1822.