Iranocichla persa, a new cichlid species from southern Iran (Teleostei, Cichlidae)

By

Esmaeili, Hamid Reza
Sayyadzadeh, Golnaz
Seehausen, Ole

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

636

Pages

141-161

Subjects

Barcode region , inland fish , Middle East , Persian Gulf

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.636.10571

 

Abstract

Iranocichla persa sp. n. is described from the Shur, Hasanlangi and Minab River drainages flowing into the Persian Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. It is distinguished from I. hormuzensis, from the Mehran River drainage, by nuptial males having a bright orange breast and lower part of the head (vs. black), a poorly developed or invisible (vs. distinctive) “Tilapia-mark” in the dorsal fin and very clear white spots making almost wavy bars or stripes on the caudal fin (vs. without or with very few white spots). Mitochondrial DNA sequence characters suggest that both Iranocichla species are closely related but form two distinct clades, diagnosable by several fixed mutations in ND2, D-loop and partially by COI sequences. Populations from Kol River drainage, which is situated in-between the Mehran and the Shur River drainages, are more similar to I. hormuzensis in terms of their male nuptial coloration but to I. persa sp. n. in their mitochondrial sequence characters. Their status requires further investigation.