Search

Oxynoemacheilus fatsaensis Saygun, Ağdamar & Özuluğ, 2021 (Fig. 12–14) Oxynoemacheilus fatsaensis Saygun, Ağdamar & Özuluğ, 2021:41, fig. 2–4. (type locality: Turkey: Ordu prov.: stream Elekçi, 40.5320N 37.2339E). Material examined. FFR 1361, 5, 46–58 mm SL; Turkey: Samsun prov: stream İlhanlı at Ayvacık, 40.990N 36.634E.— FFR 1362, 10, 37–64 mm SL; Turkey: Giresun prov: stream Aksu at Dereli, 40.731N 38.460E.— FFR 1362, 10, 37–64 mm SL; Turkey: Tokat prov: stream Kelkit 9 km north of Erbaa, 40.759N 36.515E.— FFR 1516, 31, 38–75 mm SL; Turkey: Samsun prov.: stream Tersakan 4 km west of Havza, 40.989N 35.717E.— FSJF 3128, 2, 60–62 mm SL; Turkey: Amasya prov.: Yeşilırmak at Ilıcasu, 15 km west of Taşova, 40.736N 36.150E.— FSJF 3174, 16, 33–59 mm SL; Turkey: Amasya prov.: Yeşilırmak at Taşova, 40.758N 36.328E.— FSJF 3176, 17, 29–63 mm SL; Turkey: Amasya prov.: stream Çorum 15 km north of Göynücek, 40.8217N 35.9864E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1621; Turkey: Amasya prov.: stream Çorum 15 km north of Göynücek, 40.8217N 35.9864E (GenBank accession: OK 316631, OK 316713, OK 316702). Distribution. Oxynoemacheilus fatsaensis was found in the coastal stream Elekçi in northern Anatolia and is widespread in tributaries of the adjacent Yeşilırmak River drainage. See Fig. 2 for the distribution of this species. Remarks. Oxynoemacheilus fatsaensis is distinguished from other species of the O. bergianus group by a minimum K2P distance of 3.2% to O. simavicus from the Sakarya and Büyük Melen, also supported as PTP, mPTP and ASAP entity/entities. We were not able to examine O. fatsaensis from the stream Elekçi, the type locality of the species. Individuals from the Yeşilırmak are distinguished by a minimum K2P distance of 0.7% from those from the Elekçi and are treated as conspecific. Saygun et al. (2021) also examined fishes from the Yeşilırmak and identified these as O. cf. banarescui . But in their morphological analysis, they did not distinguish O. fatsaensis from their O. cf. banarescui , but only from O. banarescui. Saygun et al. (2021) distinguish O. fatsaensis from O. bergianus by having a flank pattern that is irregularly mottled (vs. irregularly shaped bars or small blotches anteriorly mottled in some individuals), shorter postorbital distance (39.8–44.1% HL, vs. 43.1–45.7%), a deeper caudal peduncle (depth 9.4–10.1% SL, vs. 7.3–9.5), and a suborbital flap that extends forward to the mid-length of the posterior nostril (vs. reaches forwards to the front of the posterior nostril). In our materials, O. bergianus with a mottled flank pattern occur in many populations, while indeed most individuals have a blotched pattern. The postorbital distance is 39–48% HL in our O. bergianus, the caudal peduncle is 7–10% SL and we found no difference in how far the suborbital flap reaches beyond the posterior nostril. Saygun et al. (2021) distinguish O. fatsaensis from O. banarescui and “ O. samanticus ” (= O. bergianus from the Kızılırmak) by having an irregularly mottled flank pattern (vs. 6–8 large blotches in O. banarescui; 6–9 in “ O. samanticus ”), a deeper caudal peduncle (depth 9.4–10.1% SL, vs. 7.6–9.2 in O. banarescui; 7.2–9.3 in “ O. samanticus ”), a deeper caudal peduncle (its depth 1.9–2.1 times in its length, vs. 2.0– 2.7 in O. banarescui; 2.2–2.8 in “ O. samanticus ”), the pelvic fin that is not reaching beyond anus (vs. reaching in “ O. samanticus ”), the pelvic-fin origin that is located below the first branched dorsal-fin ray (vs. first or second branched dorsal-fin ray in O. banarescui), a short inner rostral barbel, not reaching base of maxillary barbel (vs. reaching, with the exception of a few O. banarescui samples not reaching), and 5–6 dark-grey saddles on back posterior to dorsal-fin base (vs. 2–3 in O. banarescui, 3–4 in “ O. samanticus ”). In our materials, O. banarescui and O. bergianus from the Kızılırmak (=“ O. samanticus ”) with a mottled flank pattern are common in many populations of both species and we also found several O. fatsaensis with lateral blotches in our materials. The caudal peduncle depth of our specimens is 7–11% (1.6–2.9 times in its length) in O. banarescui and 6–9% (2.2–3.5 times in its length) in “ O. samanticus ” and 8–9% SL (2.0–2.6 times in its length) in O. fatsaensis from the Yeşilırmak. The pelvic fin is not reaching beyond anus in many individuals of “ O. samanticus ” and the pelvic-fin origin is located below the first or second branched, often below the last unbranched dorsal-fin ray in “ O. samanticus ” as well as in in O. fatsaensis from the Yeşilırmak. We also found no difference in the length of the barbels or in the number of saddles on the back behind the dorsal-fin base. All these values largely overlap with those given by Saygun et al. (2021) Saygun et al. (2021) distinguish O. fatsaensis from O. simavicus by having an irregularly mottled flank pattern (vs. 8–9 mid-lateral blotches along the lateral line), a greater distance between the pelvic and anal-fin origins (20.9– 23.5% SL vs. 19.9–21.6), and a deeper caudal peduncle (its depth 1.9–2.1 times in its length, vs. 2.1–2.6). In our materials, O. simavicus with a mottled flank pattern are common, including those from the Simav drainage as well as the Sakarya and in O. fatsaensis from the Yeşilırmak, individuals with mid-lateral blotches occur together with mottled individuals as in most populations of species of the O. bergianus group. We found the distance between the pelvic and anal fin origins 20–22% SL in O. simavicus from the Simav and 19–23 % SL in the Sakarya and 20–23% SL in O. fatsaensis from the Yeşilırmak. The caudal peduncle depth is 2.2–2.9 times in its length in our O. simavicus from the Simav, 1.6–3.0 in O. simavicus from the Sakarya and 2.0– 2.6 in O. fatsaensis from the Yeşilırmak. All together, we were unable to support any of the characters given by Saygun et al. (2021) to distinguish O. fatsaensis from other species of the O. bergianus group. However, in contrast to O. longipinnis, O. parvinae and O. samanticus, O. fatsaensis is much stronger differentiated from O. bergianus (as recognised herein including “ O. erdali ”, “ O. lenkoranensis ”, “ O. longipinnis ”, “ O. parvinae ”, “ O. samanticus ”, O. sp. Tigris) based on COI data, from which it is distinguished by a K2P distance of 3.8%. We treat O. fatsaensis as a valid species indistinguishable from the other species of the same group by the morphological characters studied so far.

Oxynoemacheilus bergianus (Derjavin, 1934) (Fig. 4–11) ? Nemacheilus bergi Gratsianov, 1907: 163, 167 (based on Nemachilus spec.? of Berg, 1899: 30, 72 (type locality: Azerbaijan: Akstapha River [Akstafa, Agstafa; Aghstev, 41°15‘N 45°26‘E], right tributary of Kura River, Caspian basin) Nemacheilus bergianus Derjavin, 1934:109, fig. 8. (type locality: Iran: Kisum village, Shah-rud, Sefid drainage). Nemacheilus angorae lenkoranensis Abdurakhmanov, 1962: 285, fig. 50 (type locality: Azerbaijan: Lenkoran. Orthrias brandti samantica Banarescu & Nalbant, in Banarescu, Nalbant & Balık, 1978: 263, fig. 4. (type locality: Turkey: tributary of Samanti, between Pinarbasi and Sarizi, Seyhan drainage) Ilamnemacheilus longipinnis Coad & Nalbant, 2005: 304, fig. 1 (type locality: Iran: Meymeh River, a former tributary of Tigris-Euphrates River, 17 km west of Dehloran city and about 21 km east of Iraqi border, 32°45‘30“N 47°05‘30“E Barbatula erdali Erk‘akan, Nalbant & Özeren, 2007: 78, fig. 8 (type locality: Turkey: Murat River — Agri, 39°40‘N 43°44‘E) Oxynoemacheilus parvinae Sayyadzadeh, Eagderi & Esmaeili, 2016:238, figs. 2–10 (type locality: Iran: Leilehrud (Leileh River), a tributary of Sirvan River drainage at Sharvineh village, Javanrud city, Kermanshah Province, 34°49‘37.9“N, 46°21‘30.0“E. Material examined. Kızılırmak drainage: FFR 1553, 2, 55–62 mm SL; Turkey: Yozgat prov.: stream Delice 2 km southeast of Yerköy, 39.6220N 34.4900E.— FFR 1556, 3, 37–55 mm SL; Turkey: Sinop prov.: stream Gökırmak at Çarşak 11 km east of Boyabat, 41.4530N 34.8890E.— FFR 1577, 19, 54–62 mm SL; Turkey: Samsun prov.: stream Soruk 20 km east of Vezirköprü, 41.1189N 35.2269E.— FSJF 2880, 22, 36–62 mm SL; Turkey: Sivas prov.: stream Yıldız between Yıldızeli and Sivas, 39.7585N 36.7643E.— FSJF 2904, 2, 43–45 mm SL; Turkey: Sivas prov.: Kızılırmak River south of Sivas at the road to Gürün, 39.7210N 36.9621E.— FSJF 2981, 1, 44 mm SL; Turkey: Sivas prov.: Kızılırmak River at Ortatopaç nouthwest of Şarkışla, 39.3813N 36.2504E.— FSJF 3137, 11, 37–66 mm SL; Turkey: Çorum prov.: stream Hamamözü between Dodurga and Laçin, 40.7987N 34.8567E.— FSJF 3150, 12, 49–68 mm SL; Turkey: Çankırı prov.: stream Devrez at Ilgaz, 40.9030N 33.6504E.— FSJF 3155, 37, 25–53 mm SL; Turkey: Çankırı prov.: stream Terme at Konak village 30km south of Çankırı, 40.3912N 33.6372E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1406; Turkey: Sivas prov.: stream Yıldız between Yıldızeli and Sivas, 39.7585N 36.7643E (GenBank accession: OK 316652).— FSJF DNA-1614; Turkey: Çankırı prov.: stream Devrez at Ilgaz, 40.9030N 33.6504E (GenBank accession: OK316630, OK316654).— FSJF DNA-2838; Turkey: Çankırı province, stream Şabanözü, 5 km south of Şabanözü, 40.4339N 33.2835E (GenBank accession: OK 316758). Seyhan drainage: FFR 15561, 9, 35–69 mm SL; Turkey: Kayseri prov.: stream Sarnaz a drainage of stream Zamantı at Taşçı, 38.1953N 35.7805E.— FSJF 2983, 15, 38–77 mm SL; Turkey: Kayseri prov.: stream Zamantı at Pınarbaşı, 38.7366N 36.4131E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1402 Turkey: Kayseri prov.: stream Zamantı at Pınarbaşı, 38.7366N 36.4131E (GenBank accession: KJ 553908, KJ 553807). Upper Tigris drainage: — FSJF 2873, 1, 56 mm SL; Turkey: Elazığ prov.: Tigris River 5 km north of Maden, 38.4157N 39.6531E.— FSJF 2923, 2, 45–61 mm SL; Turkey: Batman prov.: stream Sason between Çatakköprü and Sason, 38.2622N 41.2591E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1316; Turkey: Batman prov.: stream Sason between Çatakköprü and Sason, 38.2622N 41.2591E (GenBank accession: OK316595, OK316709, OK316751, OK316756).— FSJF DNA-1422; Turkey: Elazığ prov.: Tigris River 5 km north of Maden, 38.4157N 39.6531E (GenBank accession: OK 316601).— FSJF DNA-2317; Iran: Sirvan drainage, (GenBank accession: OK316649, OK316627). “ Oxynoemacheilus longipinnis ”: CMNFI 1979 -0366, holotype, 36 mm SL; Iran: Meymeh River, 17 kilometers west of Dehloran, about 21 kilometers east of Iraqi border, 32.7583N 47.09167E.— CMNFI 1979-0367, 1, 41 mm SL; Iran: Khuzestan prov.: Meymeh River 11 km north of Dehloran, 32.7423N 47.1564E.— CMNFI 1979- 0365, 5, 32–40 mm SL; Iran: Khuzestan prov.: stream in Doveyrich drainage, 32.4167N 47.6083E.— FSJF 4056, 2, 53–56 mm SL; ZM-CBSU 1163, 1, 57 mm SL; ZM-CBSU 1166, 1, 43 mm SL; Iran: Ilam prov.: Meymeh River at Zarab, 33.140278N 46.928333E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-2723; Dowairij River about 5 km above reservoir, 32.6547N 47.5434E (GenBank accession: OK 316680).— HRE-I577F; Iran: Tigris drainage, 33.1404N 46.9285E (GenBank accession: OK 316741).— HRE-I578F; Iran: Tigris drainage, 33.1404N 46.9285E (GenBank accession: OK 316637).— HRE-I580F; Iran: Tigris drainage, 33.1158N, 46.1158E (GenBank accession: OK 316723).— HRE-I581F; Iran: Tigris drainage, 33.0461N, 46.5755E (GenBank accession: OK 316633). “ Oxynoemacheilus parvinae ”: FSJF 4053, 5, 51–70 mm SL; Iran: stream Leile, 34.8296N 46.3592E.— ZM-CBSU D222, 54.4 mm SL; D225, 58.2 mm SL; D226, 36.7 mm SL; D227, 59.0 mm SL; Iran: Kordestan prov.: Dehkan River at Abbas Abad, at road betwen Divandareh and Sanandaj, 35.5248N 47.0955E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1687; Iran: Dehkan River flowing to Vahdat reservoir, 35.5220N 47.0945E (GenBank accession: OK316766, OK316740, OK316624).— FSJF DNA-1699; Iran: stream about two km south-east of Hoseynabad, Sanandaj, 35.5233N 47.0922E (GenBank accession: OK 316644).— FSJF DNA-3289; Iran: stream south-east of Koile, 34.9033N 46.2082E (GenBank accession: OK 067685). Euphrates drainage: FFR 1457, 11, 64 –72 mm SL; Turkey: Malatya prov.: stream Sultansuyu 8 km east of Akçadağ, 38.3388N 38.0620E.— FFR 1467, 28, 54–64 mm SL; Turkey: Erzurum prov.: stream Baş 10 km east of Aşkale, 39.9478N 40.8040E.— FFR 15506, 25, 33–59 mm SL; Turkey: Ağrı prov.: Murat River 17 km west of Taşlıçay, 39.6785N 43.1887E.— FSJF 1993, 5, 44–55 mm SL; Turkey: Ağrı prov.: Murat east of Ağrı, 39.6640N 43.3175E.— FSJF 2547, 8, 42–67 mm SL; Turkey: Sivas prov.: stream Malcılı about 30 km north of Gürün, 5 km west of Mancılık, 39.0607N 37.1735E.— FSJF 2561, 14, 40–63 mm SL; Turkey: Adıyaman prov.: stream Eğri km south of Adıyaman, tributary to Atatürk Dam Lake, 37.7417N 38.3351E.— FSJF 3442, 13, 30–54 mm SL; Turkey: Ağrı prov.: Murat at Ballıbostan, 12 km east of Ağrı, 39.6789N 43.1896E.— FSJF 3674, 1, 59 mm SL; mm SL; Turkey: Bitlis prov.: stream Kaleli in Kareli, 38.5537N 42.0257E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-893; Turkey: Sivas prov.: stream Mancınık about 30 km north of Gürün, 5 km west of Mancılık, 39.0607N 37.1735E (GenBank accession: OK316787, OK316760, OK316789).— FSJF DNA-932; Turkey: Adıyaman prov.: stream Eğri km south of Adıyaman, tributary to Atatürk Dam Lake, 37.7422N 38.3351E (GenBank accession: MK546447, MK546448).— FSJF DNA-2398; Turkey: Ağrı prov.: Murat at Ballıbostan, 12 km east of Ağrı, 39.6789N 43.1896E (GenBank accession: OK 316691).— FSJF DNA-2370; Turkey: Erzurum prov.: stream: Arkaçayırlar at Paşayurdu, on road from Ilıca to Aşkale, 39.9833N 40.9920E (GenBank accession: OK316693, OK316705).— FSJF DNA-2376; Turkey: Ağrı prov.: stream near Sarıköy, 16 km west of Eleşkirt, 39.8016N 42.4816E (GenBank accession: MK 546449). Caspian Sea basin: FSJF 3212, 6, 40–50 mm SL; Iran: Gilan prov.: Ghezel-ozan River, a tributary to Sefid.— FSJF 3216, 3, 38–58 mm SL; Iran: Guilan prov.: lower Sefid River below dam at Shar Bijar, 37.0205N 49.6311E.— FSJF 3249, 5, 31–61 mm SL; Iran: Ardabil prov.: Yalekhlou River north of Kalyan, 38.0025N 47.7684E.— FSJF 3261, 21, 38–64 mm SL; Iran: Guilan prov.: lower Sefid River below dam at Shar Bijar, 37.0205N 49.6311E.— FSJF 3459, 4, 74–82 mm SL; FSJF 3494, 7, 52–60 mm SL; Iran: Sefid River. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1688; Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: stream Agh north of Aşağı Zengilan, 38.8616N 45.1344E (GenBank accession: MW 591322).— FSJF DNA-1691; Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: Qarah Su near Kultape, 39.2564N 47.5240E (GenBank accession: MK 546446).— FSJF DNA-2012; Iran: Ardabil prov.: Yalekhlou River north of Kalyan, 38.0025N 47.7684E (GenBank accession: OK316672, OK316746).— FSJF DNA-2724; Iran: Zandshan prov.: upper Quezel Owzan River about 4 km west of Rajin Gowgelan, 37.1268N 47.7797E (GenBank accession: MK 546451).— FSJF DNA-2725; Iran: Ardabil prov.: upper Quezel Owzan River at Nemehil, 37.2509N 48.4105E (GenBank accession: MW 591332).— FSJF DNA-2727; Iran: Ardabil prov.: Baliqly River below reservoir, about 30 km upriver from Ardabil, 38.0739N 48.0827E (GenBank accession: MK 546445).—HRE-N646F; Iran: Sefid drainage, 37.0201N 49.6333E (GenBank accession: OK 316609).—HRE-N648F; Iran: Aras drainage, 38.5513N 47.8308E (GenBank accession: OK 316780).—HRE-N649F; Iran: Aras drainage, 38.5513N 47.8308E (GenBank accession: OK 316600). —ZFMK-ICH-TIS-52331; Azerbaijan: Lankaran drainage, 38.7105N 48.7729E (GenBank accession: OK 316801).—ZFMK-ICH-TIS-52333; Azerbaijan: Lankaran drainage, 38.7105N 48.7729E (GenBank accession: OK 316594).—ZFMK-ICH-TIS-52368; Azerbaijan: Lankaran drainage, 38.7105N 48.7729E (GenBank accession: OK 316770).—ZFMK-ICH-TIS-52369; Azerbaijan: Lankaran drainage, 38.7105N 48.7729E (GenBank accession: OK 316701). Lake Namak basin: FSJF 1828, 28, 29–50 mm SL; FSJF 3230, 46, 32–46 mm SL; Iran: Albroz prov.: Kordan River near Karaj, 35.9531N 50.8375E.— FSJF 3227, 12, 38–52 mm SL; Iran: Iran Qom prov.: Quom River southwest of Shashme Ali, 34.3531N 50.5480E.— FSJF 3432, 7, 29–63 mm SL; Iran: stream Alakilise at Değirmenler, 40.0783N 42.1231E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1993; Iran: Albroz prov.: Kordan River near Karaj, 35.9531N 50.8375E (GenBank accession: OK 316757).— FSJF DNA-2317; Iran: Albroz prov.: Kordan River near Karaj, 35.9531N 50.8375E (GenBank accession: OK 316728).— FSJF DNA-2736; Iran: Markazi prov.: stream north of Jalâyer, 34.8873N 50.0361E (GenBank accession: OK 316690).—HRE-N647F; Iran: Sefid drainage, 37.0201N 49.6333E (GenBank accession: OK 316726).— SMF 33103; Iran: Markazi prov.: Qara Chai in Tureh, 34.0353N 49.2828E (GenBank accession: OK 316604). Lake Urmia basin: HRE-M758; Iran: Urmia drainage, 37.9254N 47.3232E (GenBank accession: OK 316634). — HRE-M759; Iran: Urmia basin, 37.9254N 47.3232E (GenBank accession: OK 316681). — FSJF DNA-2012; Iran: Yalekhlou drainage, 38.0024N 47.7684E (GenBank accession: OK 316672, OK 316746). Distribution. Oxynoemacheilus bergianus is known from the Kızılırmak drainage in the Anatolian Black Sea basin, the upper Seyhan drainage in the Mediterranean Sea basin, the upper Euphrates and Tigris drainages in Iran, Turkey and potentially in Iraq and Syria. It is also found in the Caspian Sea basin, where it is known from the Sefid in Iran northwest to the Aras River drainage. It also occurs in the Lake Namak and Urmia basins in Iran. See Fig. 2 for the distribution of this species. Remarks. Oxynoemacheilus bergianus as recognised herein (including O. erdali, O. lenkoranensis, O. longipinnis, O. parvinae, O. samanticus) is distinguished from other species of the O. bergianus group by a minimum K2P distance of 2.9% to O. banarescui in the DNA barcode region and is supported as one entity only by mPTP. Gratzianov (1907) described Nemacheilus bergi from the Akstapha [Akstafa] River based on Berg (1899). Recently, Çiçek et al. (2018) revalidated N. bergi as a species of Oxynoemacheilus, and the case was discussed in depth by Freyhof et al. (2021). We could not analyse DNA characters of O. bergi and have seen only a picture of a subadult individual (Freyhof et al., 2021). This information is too superficial to justify changing the name of such a widespread species as O. bergianus; the name might change again when more individuals and character states become available in the future. The identity of O. bergi remains unresolved and more fieldwork is needed to study the Oxynoemacheilus species of the Akstapha River to clarify this question. We cannot fully exclude the possibility that O. bergianus might be a junior synonym of O. bergi. Barbatula erdali was described by Erk‘akan et al. (2007) from the upper Murat River drainage, a tributary of the Euphrates. It was already identified as a synonym of O. bergianus by Freyhof et al. (2019) and the fish on the drawing (Erk‘akan et al. (2007:78: Fig. 8) agrees very well with O. bergianus. Erk‘akan et al. (2007), however, did not distinguish O. erdali from O. bergianus. We found two molecular groups within the populations of O. bergianus in the Euphrates. The type locality of O. erdali is situated in the upper Murat at Ağrı. We examined fishes from the Murat at Ağrı (FSJF 1993, FSJF 3442/FSJF DNA-2398), which are indistinguishable from O. bergianus from the Sefid, the type locality of the species, by morphological and molecular characters. The clade found in the Euphrates that is different from the majority of O. bergianus, was found in the northernmost Euphrates drainage, north-east of Erzurum (FSJF DNA-2370, 39.9833N 40.9920E). This stream flows to the Karasu, another large tributary of the Euphrates beside the Murat. Although no voucher material is available from this population, we have a photograph of one individual (Fig. 4, right column, uppermost individual). While we cannot determine whether it might be morphologically different from O. bergianus, the fish in the figure is superficially indistinguishable from other populations of that species. The K2P distance of the fish from the Karasu and O. bergianus is only 1.2%, and both molecular clades are very likely conspecific. Nemacheilus angorae lenkoranensis was described from Lenkoran (also spelled Lankaran) by Abdurakhmanov (1962). It is treated as a species of Oxynoemacheilus by Golzarianpour et al. (2011) and as a synonym of O. bergi by Çiçek et al. (2018) without examination of material or analysis of characters given in the description or shown in the figures. The Lenkoran River, having its estuary at Lenkoran, is a small tributary of the Caspian Sea between the Sefid and the Kura. The loach fauna of this and other coastal rivers in the area is poorly studied. We were able to include some samples from Iranian coastal rivers from south of the border between Azerbaijan and Iran in our molecular analysis and these are identified as O. bergianus. Boris Levin (Borok) allowed us to analyse some tissue samples he collected in the Lenkoran River in Azerbaijan and sent us some pictures of these fishes (Fig. 5). He also mentioned that there seems to be only a single species of nemacheilid loach in the Lenkoran River. While these individuals could be examined by us only from photos, the sequences derived from them cluster within O. bergianus. The vouchers of the tissue samples (Fig. 5) are slender loaches identical or very similar in body shape and colour pattern to O. bergianus. Abdurakhmanov (1962: fig. 50; reproduced here as Fig. 6) shows a slender loach with a narrow caudal peduncle and deeply emarginate caudal fin. It is distinguished from the loaches collected by B. Levin in the Lenkoran River by having a different snout shape and having the dorsal-fin origin above the pelvic-fin origin (vs. behind in fresh materials from Lenkoran). But these differences, as well as the unusual shape of the caudal fin could be due to limitations of the illustration. Indeed, there are rarely individuals of O. bergianus with the dorsal-fin origin above the pelvic-fin origin; and potentially, the type of O. lenkoranensis is such an individual. As there is no clear character to distinguish O. lenkoranensis from O. bergianus, we tentatively treat it as a synonym of the latter species awaiting a more detailed study of the loaches of the Lenkoran River. Oxynoemacheilus samanticus (Fig. 7) was described from the upper Seyhan drainage and these fishes, as well as those from the Kızılırmak drainage, form their own cluster in our molecular analysis. Further, one population from the uppermost Euphrates, just beyond the watershed of the Kızılırmak and the Euphrates (FSJF 2547, stream Mancılık), is placed in this cluster. However, we found no confident morphological character states or combination of character states to distinguish these populations from O. bergianus. Oxynoemacheilus samanticus is distinguished from O. bergianus by a minimum K2P distance of 2.1% in the COI mtDNA barcode region and is supported as PTP and ASAP entity/entities. Due to the small molecular difference—with regard to the data generated from the reference dataset—between both groups of populations and the lack of morphological characters found in this study, O. samanticus is treated as a synonym of O. bergianus. Coad & Nalbant (2005) describe O. longipinnis (Fig. 8) as a distinct genus, Ilamnemacheilus, based on a single, malformed individual. Freyhof et al. (2016) re-examined the holotype and additional material collected at almost the same locality and transferred I. longipinnis into the genus Oxynoemacheilus. Sayyadzadeh et al. (2017) distinguished O. longipinnis from O. bergianus by having an oval bony swim bladder capsule connected by a narrower manubrium (vs. angular shaped connected by a wider manubrium), no tubercles on the suborbital flap or pectoralfin rays in males (vs. present), an, Published as part of Freyhof, Jörg, Kaya, Cüneyt & Geiger, Matthias F., 2022, A practical approach to revise the Oxynoemacheilus bergianus species group (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), pp. 151-194 in Zootaxa 5128 (2) on pages 169-175, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5128.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6479752, {"references":["Derjavin, A. N. (1934) Freshwater fish of the south coast of the Caspian Sea. Trudy Azerbaidzhanskogo otdela Zakavkazskogo filiala Akademii Nauk SSSR, Sektor Zoologii, 7, 91 - 126. [In Russian, English summary.]","Berg, L. S. (1899) Beitrage zur Ichthyofauna des Kaukasus. Mitteilungen des Kaukasischen Museums [Bulletin du Musee du caucase; Izvestija Kavkazskogo Muzeja], 1 (3), 1 - 80. [in Russian and German]","Abdurakhmanov, Y. A. (1962) Freshwater fishes of Azerbaidjan. Akademii nauk Azerbaidzhanskoi SSR, Baku, 407 pp. [in Russian]","Banarescu, P. M., Nalbant, T. T. & Balik, S. (1978) Susswasserfische der Turkei. 11. Teil. Die Gattung Orthrias in der Turkei und in Sudbulgarien (Pisces, Cobitidae, Noemacheilinae). Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut, 75, 255 - 266.","Coad, B. W. & Nalbant, T. T. (2005) A new genus and a new species of a remarkable nemacheilid fish from Iran (Pisces: Ostariophysi: Nemacheilidae). Travaux du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle \" Grigore Antipa \", Bucharest, 48, 303 - 308.","Erk'akan, F., Nalbant, T. T. & Ozeren, S. C. (2007) Seven new species of Barbatula, three new species of Schistura and a new species of Seminemacheilus (Ostariophysi: Balitoridae: Nemacheilinae) from Turkey. Journal of Fisheries International [electronic journal], 2 (1), 69 - 85.","Sayyadzadeh, G., Eagderi, S. & Esmaeili, H. R. (2016) A new loach of the genus Oxynoemacheilus from the Tigris River drainage and its phylogenetic relationships among the nemacheilid fishes (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) in the Middle East based on mtDNA COI sequences. Iranian Journal of Ichthyology, 3, 236 - 250. https: // doi. org / 10.22034 / iji. v 3 i 4.205","Gratzianov, V. I. (1907) Opyt' obzora ryby Rossiskoi Imperii v' sistematicheskom' i geograficescom' otnoshenii. Trudy Otdela Ichtiologii Imperatorskago Russkago Obshchestva Akklimatizacii Zivotnych' i Rastenii, 4, i - xxx + 1 - 567.","Cicek, E., Eagderi, S. & Sungur, S. (2018) Oxynoemacheilus veyseli, a new nemacheilid species from the upper Aras River drainage of Turkey (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Iranian Journal of Ichthyology, 5 (3), 232 - 242. https: // doi. org / 10.22034 / iji. v 5 i 3.302","Freyhof, J., Kaya, C., Turan, D. & Geiger, M. F. (2019) Review of the Oxynoemacheilus tigris group with the description of two new species from the Euphrates drainage (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Zootaxa, 4612 (1), 29 - 57. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4612.1.2","Golzarianpour, K., Abdoli, A. & Freyhof, J. (2011) Oxynoemacheilus kiabii, a new loach from Karkheh River drainage, Iran (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 22, 201 - 208.","Freyhof, J. (2016) Oxynoemacheilus karunensis, a new species from the Persian Gulf basin Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Zootaxa, 4175 (1), 94 - 100. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4175.1.9","Sayyadzadeh, G.; Esmaeili, H. R., Eagderi, S., Jouladeh-Roudbar, A.; Masoudi, M. & Vatandoust, S. (2017) Re-description of Oxynoemacheilus longipinnis from the Persian Gulf basin (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Zoology in the Middle East, 63 (3), 228 - 238. https: // doi. org / 10.1080 / 09397140.2017.1349243"]}

Oxynoemacheilus simavicus (Balik & Bănărescu, 1978) (Fig. 15–18) Orthrias brandti simavica Balık & Banarescu, in Banarescu, Nalbant & Balık, 1978: 261, fig. 3 (type locality: Turkey: „ Simav creek, Kütahya “) Material examined. Simav drainage: FFR 1380, 12, 38–50 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Koca at Manyas.— FFR 1505, 28, 32–56 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Sakar at Manyas, 40.050N 27.962E.— FFR 1512, 7, 43–64 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Dursunbey 4 km south of Adaören, 39.609N 28.751E.— FFR 1518, 8, 44–74 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Koca 4 km north of Balya, 39.782N 27.596E.— FFR 1520, 8, 47–55 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Değirmenboğazı 13 km west of Manyas, 40.000N 27.828E.— FFR 1522, 4, 47–51 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov: stream Koca at Ilıca, 39.878N 27.780E.— FFR 1542, 4, 48–49 mm SL; Turkey: Bursa prov: stream Nilüfer at Narlıdere, 40.244N 29.298E.— FFR 1544, 29, 39–68 mm SL; Turkey: Bursa prov: stream Nilüfer at Misi, 40.180N 28.974E.— FSJF 1929, 4, 46–60 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov.: stream Çaylak at Susurluk, 39.904N 28.181E.— FSJF 1949, 1, 62 mm SL; Turkey: Balıkesir prov.: Simav River east of Susurluk, 39.917N 28.166E. Büyük Melen drainage: FSJF 3719, 15, 50– 6 mm SL; Turkey: Düzce prov.: stream Asar 2.5 km west of Kaynaşlı, 40.7811N 31.2770E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-2850; Turkey: Düzce prov.: stream Asar 2.5 km west of Kaynaşlı, 40.7811N 31.2770E (GenBank accession: OK 316642, OK 316739, OK 316651). Sakarya drainage: FFR 1364, 16, 25–64 mm SL; Turkey: Ankara prov: stream Berçin at Kızılcahamam, 40.483N 32.653E.— FFR 1386, 13, 49–62 mm SL; FFR 15515, 1, 62 mm SL; Turkey: Ankara prov: stream Öz at Kızılcahamam, 40.463N 32.653E.— FFR 1387, 9, 39–58 mm SL; FFR 1527, 17, 50–62 mm SL; Turkey: Ankara prov: stream İlhanlı 5 km west of Gökçebağ, 40.093N 32.245E.— FFR 1378, 2, 45–57 mm SL; Turkey: Kütahya prov: stream Porsuk at Kütahya, 39.467N 30.027E.— FFR 15514, 1, 59 mm SL; Turkey: Ankara prov: stream Kirmir 3 km north of Güdül, 40.236N 32.261E.— FFR 1525, 1, 55 mm SL; Turkey: Kütahya prov: stream Porsuk 6 km south of Ziğra, 39.349N 30.038E. — FSJF 1913, 5, 55–66 mm SL; Turkey: Eskişehir prov.: stream Allıkova about 37 km south of Bozüyük at road from Bozüyük to Kütahya, 39.682N 30.154E.— FSJF 1938, 28, 26–57 mm SL; Turkey: Eskişehir prov.: stream Pürtek at Mülkköy, a tributary of River Porsuk, 39.555N 31.758E.— FSJF 1965, 3, 51–61 mm SL; Turkey: Adapazarı prov.: Sakarya River at Doğançay, 40.596N 30.323E.— FSJF 2499, 31, 37–66 mm SL; Turkey: Ankara prov.: stream Bayındır at Kızılcahamam east of Çeltikci, 40.314N 32.467E.— FSJF 3050, 7, 51–67 mm SL; Turkey: Bursa prov.: stream Hamamlı between Bozöyük and Bursa, 40.036N 29.606E. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-47; Turkey: Adapazarı prov.: Sakarya River at Doğançay, 40.596N 30.323E (GenBank accession: OK 316688).— FSJF DNA-49; Turkey: Eskişehir prov.: stream Allıkova about 37 km south of Bozüyük at road from Bozüyük to Kütahya, 39.682N 30.154E (GenBank accession: OK316620, OK316798).— FSJF DNA-890; Turkey: Ankara prov.: stream Bayındır at Kızılcahamam east of Çeltikci, 40.3143N 32.467E (GenBank accession: OK316743, OK316622, OK316635, OK316616, OK316796, OK316735). Distribution. Turkey: Simav drainage in the Marmara Sea basin as well as in Büyük Melen and Sakarya drainages in the Anatolian Black Sea basin. See Fig. 2 for the distribution of this species. Remarks. Based on DNA barcoding, O. simavicus is separated from all other species of the O. bergianus group by a minimum K2P distance of 3.7%, also supported as PTP, mPTP and ASAP entity/entities. Oxynoemacheilus simavicus is separated into three population groups, one in the Simav (Marmara basin; Fig. 15) and two in the Sakarya (Fig. 16–18), one of these also found in the Büyük Melen drainage, a small river flowing to the Black Sea east of the Sakarya. Oxynoemacheilus simavicus from the Simav is distinguished by a minimum 2.2% K2P distance from the first and 2.5% from the second group and both groups are distinguished by 1.7% from each other. We found no confident morphological differences between both groups in the Sakarya and understand very little about their distribution or whether they are allopatric. We found one group in the upper Porsuk (FSJF 1913), the middle Sakarya River (FSJF 1965) and in the Büyük Melen drainage (FSJF 3719). The second group is so far only confirmed from one stream north of Ankara (FSJF 2499). As we would expect two such groups to hybridise in sympatry, the analysis of mtDNA alone, as the COI studies here, is of little help in distinguishing the two groups. Indeed, the two mtDNA groups might not be supported by nuclear, recombining DNA markers and both lineages might belong to just one population. We might speculate that fish from two different refuges, from which both or one expanded their range, have widely hybridised, now forming a single population. We find no consistent morphological difference between individuals from the Simav and those of both molecular groups from the Sakarya. Interestingly, in the molecular group found in the Sakarya and the Büyük Melen (FSJF 1913, FSJF 1965, FSJF 3719), the sole population studied from the Büyük Melen drainage (FSJF 3719, n=10) is differentiated from two Sakarya populations (FSJF 1913, n=5; FSJF 1965, n=3) by having a deeper caudal peduncle (caudal peduncle depth 1.7–2.2 times in its length vs. 2.4–3.3 in Sakarya). However, the variability in this character is much larger in individuals of O. simavicus from the Simav (1.8–2.7, n=20) and in the only studied population of the other molecular group from the Sakarya (1.9–2.8, FSJF 2499, n=20). As discussed under O. bergianus above, single populations might be slightly differentiated from others especially when only a few individuals are examined. But if larger series are studied, ideally several populations with the same or very similar molecular characters, these small differences are diluted and no consistent morphological differences remain to distinguish the three molecular clades within O. simavicus and to distinguish this species from O. bergianus and O. fatsaensis. Similar to O. fatsaensis, O. simavicus is well separated based on COI data from O. bergianus, from which it is distinguished by a K2P distance of 3.7% (3.8% to O. fatsaensis). We treat O. simavicus as a valid species indistinguishable from the other species of the same group by the morphological characters studied so far., Published as part of Freyhof, Jörg, Kaya, Cüneyt & Geiger, Matthias F., 2022, A practical approach to revise the Oxynoemacheilus bergianus species group (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), pp. 151-194 in Zootaxa 5128 (2) on pages 179-183, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5128.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6479752, {"references":["Banarescu, P. M., Nalbant, T. T. & Balik, S. (1978) Susswasserfische der Turkei. 11. Teil. Die Gattung Orthrias in der Turkei und in Sudbulgarien (Pisces, Cobitidae, Noemacheilinae). Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut, 75, 255 - 266."]}

Oxynoemacheilus phasicus, new species (Figs 2���5) Holotype. ZFMK ICH-124180, 74 mm SL; Georgia: Dzirula River at road from Tbilisi to Kutaisi 1 km upstream from Khunevi, 42.0975 43.3900. Paratypes. FSJF 3592, 1, 77 mm SL; same data as holotype.��� FSJF 3576, 3, 50���59 mm SL; Georgia: Enguri River at Lia, 42.6617 41.9911.��� FSJF 3615, 2, 44���54 mm SL; Georgia: Tskhenitskali River upstream of Samtredia, 42.1694 42.4314.��� FSJF 4061, 2, 32���39 mm SL; Georgia: Gubistskali River east of Samtredia, upriver of confluence with Rioni and Rioni channel, 42.16251 42.41069. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. ZFMK ICH-NB184; same data as holotype (GenBank accession number: MW 564259, holotype or paratype, association unclear).��� ZFMK ICH-106137-106138; Georgia: Swlana stream west of Jurukveti, 42.07829 41.91643 (GenBank accession numbers: MW564307, MW564435).��� ZFMK ICH-106139-106140; Georgia: Gubistskali River east of Samtredia, upriver of confluence with Rioni and Rioni channel, 42.16251 42.41069. (GenBank accession numbers: MW564371, MW564381).��� ZFMK ICH-NB190 - NB191; Georgia: Tskhenitskali River upstream of Samtredia, 42.1694 42.4314 (GenBank accession numbers: MW564373, MW564302, MW564481).��� ZFMK ICH-NB195; Georgia: Enguri River at Lia, 42.6617 41.9911 (GenBank accession number: MW 564442). Diagnosis. Oxynoemacheilus phasicus is distinguished from O. cemali, the only other species of Oxynoemacheilus known from the eastern Black Sea basin, by a slightly emarginate caudal fin (vs. deeply emarginate), pelvic fin not reaching to origin of genital papillae (vs. reaching to or beyond posterior tip of genital papillae), pelvic-fin origin below first branched dorsal-fin ray (vs. below second or third ray), a wide band in posterior half of caudal fin (vs. absent), and a mottled or marbled flank pattern (juveniles with bars on flank behind dorsal-fin base) (vs. usually with 9���15 narrow, irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-grey bars or vertically elongate blotches on flank posterior to dorsal-fin origin). Oxynoemacheilus phasicus is distinguished from the other members of the O. brandtii species group (O. brandtii, O. elsae, and O. merga) by having a slightly emarginate caudal fin (vs. forked in O. brandtii, deeply emarginate in O. elsae and O. merga), pelvic fin not reaching to origin of genital papillae (vs. reaching to or beyond anus in O. brandtii and many O. elsae and O. merga), caudal peduncle 1.5���2.1 times longer than deep (vs. 2.5���3.2 in O. brandtii, 2.3���2.9 in O. elsae, 2.0��� 2.5 in O. merga), and a mottled or marbled flank pattern (vs. usually with irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars or vertically elongate blotches on flank posterior to dorsal-fin origin, much wider than interspaces, often fused into a plain brown pattern on flank in front of dorsal-fin base in O. brandtii; usually with irregularly shaped and spaced, rarely regularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars, often split in middle, or flank almost plain brown in O. elsae; with many, narrow, pale-brown bars, usually much more narrow than interspaces, often dissociated in vertically elongate blotches on flank and dorsal saddles, rarely mottled in O. merga). Description. See Figures 2���5 for general appearance and Table 2 for morphometric data. Medium-sized and moderately slender species. Body deepest at about midline between nape and dorsal-fin origin. Body width greatest at pectoral-fin base, at cheek in largest individual. Section of head roundish, flattened on ventral surface, slightly convex in interorbital space, convex on snout. Snout blunt. Caudal peduncle compressed laterally, 1.5���2.1 times longer than deep. Pelvic axillary lobe present, its tip attached to flank. Pelvic-fin origin below first branched dorsalfin ray. Anal-fin origin at about vertical of midline between dorsal and caudal-fin origins. Pectoral fin reaching to approximately 50���70% of distance from pectoral-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic fin not reaching anus; reaching slightly anterior to vertical of tip of last dorsal-fin ray; almost reaching anus in juveniles smaller than 40 mm SL. Anus about 30���70% of an eye diameter anterior to anal-fin origin. Anal fin not reaching caudal-fin base. No dorsal or ventral adipose crest on caudal peduncle. Largest known individual 77 mm SL. Dorsal fin with 8�����9�� branched rays, outer margin straight or convex. Anal fin with 5�� branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly concave. Pectoral fin with 9���11 branched rays, outer margin straight. Pelvic fin with 7 branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly convex. Caudal fin slightly emarginate with 8+8 branched rays, moderately emarginate in juveniles smaller than 40 mm SL. Flank, back and abdomen densely covered by scales. Lateral line complete, terminating at caudal-fin base. Anterior nostril opening at end of a low, ovoid and flap-like tube. Posterior tip of anterior nostril overlapping in small individuals, not overlapping posterior nostril when folded backwards in large individuals. One central pore, two in one individual, and one lateral pore on each side of supra- temporal head canal, 8���10 pores in anterior infraorbital canal, 3���4 pores in posterior infraorbital canal, 6���9 pores in supraorbital canal and 5���7 pores in mandibular canal. A short suborbital groove in male. Mouth small, arched. Lips thick without furrows, lower lip thicker than upper lip. A median interruption in lower lip. Upper lip with a small and short median incision in some individuals, absent in others. Processus dentiformis narrow, very small and rounded. Lower jaw rounded, without median notch. Barbels long; inner rostral barbel reaching to or beyond base of maxillary barbel, outer reaching beyond anterior margin of eye, to middle of eye in some individuals. Maxillary barbel reaching beyond vertical through middle of eye or to or beyond posterior margin of eye. Barbels very short in largest individuals. Coloration. Body with yellowish or pale brown background and dark- or pale-brown pattern in live and preserved individuals. Preserved individuals with a wide inner-axial stripe, absent in life. Dorsal head and upper part of cheek brown, with a vermiculate pattern. Ventral surface of head yellowish without pattern. Flank densely mottled, without bars or blotches, marbled or with bars on flank behind dorsal-fin origin in individuals smaller than 50 mm SL, almost plain brown in some individuals. Flank pigmentation reaching down to horizontal of pectoral-fin base or to belly in some individuals. Back mottled, marbled or with 3���4 squarish or triangular predorsal blotches, confluent with flank pattern, one saddle at dorsal-fin origin, one or none in middle of dorsal-fin base and one at end of dorsal- fin base, and 3���6 saddles behind dorsal-fin base, all saddles wider than interspaces. A narrow, black bar at caudal-fin base. Posteriormost upper and lowermost caudal peduncle with a pale yellowish, unpigmented blotch. Dorsal and pectoral fins with small brown blotches on rays, forming 1���3 bands. Caudal fin with many small brown blotches on rays, forming 1���3 wide and bold bands, often band at second half of caudal fin very wide or caudal-fin rays almost completely brown. Pectoral, anal and pelvic fins with dark-brown blotches on rays; hyaline or with few blotches in individuals smaller than 60 mm SL. Distribution. Oxynoemacheilus phasicus was collected from the Enguri and Rioni River drainages in Georgia. It has not been found in the Chorokhi / ��oruh River in Georgia or Turkey or in small rivers in-between despite intensive field work in that area. Etymology. The species name is derived from Phasis, the Greek name of the Rioni. An adjective. Remarks. Nemacheilus bergi was named by Gratzianov (1907) based on a description by Berg (1899) of two individuals (61 mm, 35 mm) from the Akstapha [Agstafa] River, a right tributary of the Kura in Azerbaijan. Berg (1899:73) wrote in his chapter on Nemacheilus sp.: ���Die Schwanzflosse ist im Verh��ltnis zu N. Brandt schwach ausgeschnitten (bei dem Exemplar von 61 mm. L��nge ist der mittelste Strahl der Schwanzflosse 8 mm. Und die seitlichen 11 mm lang).��� [The caudal fin is slightly emarginate in comparison with N. brandtii (in the specimen of 61 mm the length of the central caudal-fin ray is 8 mm and of the lateral ones 11 mm)]. Also, Berg (1899:72���73) mentions that the pelvic fin reaches the anus, there is a bold bar at the caudal-fin base, a wide band in the middle of the caudal fin and incomplete bars on the flank. This species is further treated as a synonym of O. angorae by Berg (1949), who distinguished O. angorae from O. bergianus by the caudal peduncle being less than two times longer than deep in O. angorae vs. more in O. bergianus. ��i��ek et al. (2018) treat N. bergi as a valid species in Oxynoemacheilus without giving further details. Soheil Eagderi (Tehran) sent JF a picture (Fig. 7) of one individual they identified as O. bergi collected in the Kura, very close to the inflow of the Agstafa. Measured from the picture, this individual has the caudal-peduncle depth two times in the caudal-peduncle length, the caudal fin is emarginate and the middle caudal-fin ray is 75% of the length of the longest principal ray in the lower caudal-fin lobe (72% in the description of Berg 1899, but unclear which lobe was measured). These two character states as well as its colour pattern distinguish this species clearly from O. brandtii (caudal peduncle 2.5���3.2 times longer than deep, caudal fin forked). Indeed the fish on Fig. 7 agree with the characters given for N. bergi by Berg (1899) and we support the view of ��i��ek et al. (2018) treating O. bergi as a valid species. Oxynoemacheilus bergi is clearly distinguished from O. phasicus by possessing a deeply emarginate caudal fin (vs. slightly emarginate in O. phasicus), and the pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs. not reaching). Potentially O. bergi is conspecific with O. bergianus, described from the Sefid River in Iran and known to occur in the adjacent Aras, a major tributary of the Kura. Future research should clarify if O. bergi is different from O. bergianus. If both are conspecific, O. bergianus would become a junior synonym of O. bergi. We also follow ��i��ek et al. (2018) in treating N. angorae alasanicus as a synonym of O. bergi and N. brandtii gibbusnazus as a synonym of O. brandtii. ��i��ek et al. (2018) did not examine any materials of N. a. alasanicus or N. b. gibbusnazus, both described by Elanidze (1983) from the upper Alazani in the Georgian Kura drainage. G. Epitashvili and L. Mumladze (Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia) visited the upper Alazani though yet only O. brandtii was collected. ��i��ek et al. (2018) give no arguments for their conclusion and did not analyse the description of both species. However, we also have no arguments to reject the hypothesis of ��i��ek et al. (2018), as the descriptions are not very conclusive, without figures and we also did not examine enough materials by our own. Only four loaches from the type locality of both species were available for this study and these are identified as O. brandtii. It is likely that Elanidze (1983) had identified his materials by the key provided by Berg (1949) and correctly identified one species as O. brandtii and the second species, which has a deeper caudal peduncle and an emarginate (vs. furcate) fin, was identified as O. angorae. He then described new subspecies for both species, and thus N. angorae alasanicus might be identified as O. bergi. Eagderi et al. (2018) distinguish O. elsae (Fig. 9) from O. brandtii (Fig. 8) based on 10, non-overlapping morphometric characters (dorsal-fin base length, anal-fin base length, anal-fin depth, pelvic-fin length, caudal-fin length, caudal-peduncle width, snout length, eye diameter, interorbital distance, maxillary barbel length). They compared 20 O. elsae with five O. brandtii from the Kura drainage. We examined 20 individuals from each species and found all the 10 morphometric characters overlapping. In seven out of 10 characters no significant difference from equality of their mean values were detected. Only the means of the pelvic-fin length, length of the lower caudal-fin lobe, and the eye diameter were significantly different (Fig. 10). Also these morphometric characters largely overlap: pelvic-fin length 14���20, mean 18% SL in O. brandtii (vs. 14���17, mean 16 in O. elsae), length of lower caudal-fin lobe 20���27, mean 24% SL (vs. 19���23, mean 21), and the eye diameter 13���21, mean 17% HL (vs. 17���24, mean 20). The overlap in the pelvic-fin length is due to two individuals only and from 49 O. brandtii all except two individuals, have a pelvic-fin length 17���20 % SL, one has 14% SL and one has 15% SL. This character allows to distinguish O. brandtii from O. elsae if a larger number of individuals is available, while the other characters can just support their diagnosis. Oxynoemacheilus elsae is well distinguished from O. brandtii by the shape of the caudal fin, which is emarginate in O. elsae (vs. forked in O. brandtii) and by details in colour pattern. Oxynoemacheilus elsae usually possess a flank pattern of irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars, often split in middle, more narrow than interspaces, or flank almost plain brown (vs. flank with brown bars or vertically elongate blotches, much wider than interspaces, usually regularly set) and the caudal fin possess many small brown blotches on rays arranged in 3���6, narrow, pale-brown band (vs. caudal fin with 1���3, wide and very bold bands). However, the flank pattern is variable in both species and occasionally almost plain brown individuals or individuals with many, very narrow bars occur. Oxynoemacheilus elsae is separated from O. brandtii by a minimum K2P distance of 1.5% (Aras) and 4.9% (Kura) in the mtDNA COI barcode region (Fig. 1). Oxynoemacheilus from the Aras River (Fig. 11), a major tributary to the Kura, cluster as sister to O. elsae in our molecular analysis based on all three approaches (ML, NJ, MP). In all morphological characters distinguishing O. elsae from O. brandtii, the population from the Aras agrees with O. brandtii and not with O. elsae (Fig. 9) including the characteristic colour pattern of O. brandtii. These fish are significantly different from O. elsae in the pelvic-fin length mentioned above, but not different from O. brandtii in any of these or other characters examined. The obvious mismatch between morphological and molecular characters, which suggests that the fish from the Aras should be identified as O. elsae cannot be resolved here. It could be speculated that past river-captures might have resulted in an invasion of a mitochondrial haplotype of O. elsae from Urmia into the adjacent Aras. While they hybridised with native O. brandtii, their mitochondria might have performed better and gave the carriers an evolutionary benefit which spread in the Aras. If so, what cannot be excluded, we would find O. brandtii with mtDNA of O. elsae. The small molecular distance between O. elsae and O. brandtii from the Aras in their mtDNA indicates the time passed since the connection of the Aras with the Urmia basin. Further nuclear molecular research is needed in the future aiming to clarify the case. We suggest to identify the fish from the Aras as O. brandtii due to its morphological similarity to this species., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Kaya, C��neyt, Epitashvili, Giorgi & Geiger, Matthias F., 2021, Oxynoemacheilus phasicus, a new nemacheilid loach from the eastern Black Sea basin with some remarks on other Caucasian Oxynoemacheilus (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), pp. 135-151 in Zootaxa 4952 (1) on pages 139-146, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4952.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/4671916, {"references":["Gratzianov, V. I. (1907) Opyt' obzora ryby Rossiskoi Imperii v' sistematicheskom' i geograficescom' otnoshenii. Vol. 4. Trudy Otdela Ichtiologii Imperatorskago Russkago Obshchestva Akklimatizacii Zivotnych' i Rastenii, 1907, i - xxx + 1 - 567.","Berg, L. S. (1899) Beitrage zur Ichthyofauna des Kaukasus. Mitteilungen des Kaukasischen Museums [Bulletin du Musee du Caucase; Izvestija Kavkazskogo Muzeja], 1 (3), 1 - 80. [in Russian and German].","Berg, L. S. (1949) The freshwater fishes of the USSR and adjacent countries. Part 3. 4 th Edition. Akademia Nauk USSR, Moscow & Leningrad, pp. 927 - 1382. [in Russian]","Cicek, E., Eagderi, S. & Sungur, S. (2018) Oxynoemacheilus veyseli, a new nemacheilid species from the upper Aras River drainage of Turkey (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Iranian Journal of Ichthyology, 5 (3), 232 - 242. https: // doi. org / 10.22034 / iji. v 5 i 3.302","Elanidze, R. F. (1983) Ikhtiofauna rek i ozer Gruzii. Akademiya Nauk Gruzinskoi SSR, Institut Zoologii, Metsniereba, Tbilisi, Georgia, 319 pp. [in Russian]","Eagderi, S., Jalili, P. & Cicek, E. (2018) Oxynoemacheilus elsae, a new species from the Urmia Lake basin of Iran (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). FishTaxa, 3 (2), 453 - 459."]}

Oxynoemacheilus phasicus, new species (Figs 2–5) Holotype. ZFMK ICH-124180, 74 mm SL; Georgia: Dzirula River at road from Tbilisi to Kutaisi 1 km upstream from Khunevi, 42.0975 43.3900. Paratypes. FSJF 3592, 1, 77 mm SL; same data as holotype.— FSJF 3576, 3, 50–59 mm SL; Georgia: Enguri River at Lia, 42.6617 41.9911.— FSJF 3615, 2, 44–54 mm SL; Georgia: Tskhenitskali River upstream of Samtredia, 42.1694 42.4314.— FSJF 4061, 2, 32–39 mm SL; Georgia: Gubistskali River east of Samtredia, upriver of confluence with Rioni and Rioni channel, 42.16251 42.41069. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. ZFMK ICH-NB184; same data as holotype (GenBank accession number: MW 564259, holotype or paratype, association unclear).— ZFMK ICH-106137-106138; Georgia: Swlana stream west of Jurukveti, 42.07829 41.91643 (GenBank accession numbers: MW564307, MW564435).— ZFMK ICH-106139-106140; Georgia: Gubistskali River east of Samtredia, upriver of confluence with Rioni and Rioni channel, 42.16251 42.41069. (GenBank accession numbers: MW564371, MW564381).— ZFMK ICH-NB190 - NB191; Georgia: Tskhenitskali River upstream of Samtredia, 42.1694 42.4314 (GenBank accession numbers: MW564373, MW564302, MW564481).— ZFMK ICH-NB195; Georgia: Enguri River at Lia, 42.6617 41.9911 (GenBank accession number: MW 564442). Diagnosis. Oxynoemacheilus phasicus is distinguished from O. cemali, the only other species of Oxynoemacheilus known from the eastern Black Sea basin, by a slightly emarginate caudal fin (vs. deeply emarginate), pelvic fin not reaching to origin of genital papillae (vs. reaching to or beyond posterior tip of genital papillae), pelvic-fin origin below first branched dorsal-fin ray (vs. below second or third ray), a wide band in posterior half of caudal fin (vs. absent), and a mottled or marbled flank pattern (juveniles with bars on flank behind dorsal-fin base) (vs. usually with 9–15 narrow, irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-grey bars or vertically elongate blotches on flank posterior to dorsal-fin origin). Oxynoemacheilus phasicus is distinguished from the other members of the O. brandtii species group (O. brandtii, O. elsae, and O. merga) by having a slightly emarginate caudal fin (vs. forked in O. brandtii, deeply emarginate in O. elsae and O. merga), pelvic fin not reaching to origin of genital papillae (vs. reaching to or beyond anus in O. brandtii and many O. elsae and O. merga), caudal peduncle 1.5–2.1 times longer than deep (vs. 2.5–3.2 in O. brandtii, 2.3–2.9 in O. elsae, 2.0– 2.5 in O. merga), and a mottled or marbled flank pattern (vs. usually with irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars or vertically elongate blotches on flank posterior to dorsal-fin origin, much wider than interspaces, often fused into a plain brown pattern on flank in front of dorsal-fin base in O. brandtii; usually with irregularly shaped and spaced, rarely regularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars, often split in middle, or flank almost plain brown in O. elsae; with many, narrow, pale-brown bars, usually much more narrow than interspaces, often dissociated in vertically elongate blotches on flank and dorsal saddles, rarely mottled in O. merga). Description. See Figures 2–5 for general appearance and Table 2 for morphometric data. Medium-sized and moderately slender species. Body deepest at about midline between nape and dorsal-fin origin. Body width greatest at pectoral-fin base, at cheek in largest individual. Section of head roundish, flattened on ventral surface, slightly convex in interorbital space, convex on snout. Snout blunt. Caudal peduncle compressed laterally, 1.5–2.1 times longer than deep. Pelvic axillary lobe present, its tip attached to flank. Pelvic-fin origin below first branched dorsalfin ray. Anal-fin origin at about vertical of midline between dorsal and caudal-fin origins. Pectoral fin reaching to approximately 50–70% of distance from pectoral-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic fin not reaching anus; reaching slightly anterior to vertical of tip of last dorsal-fin ray; almost reaching anus in juveniles smaller than 40 mm SL. Anus about 30–70% of an eye diameter anterior to anal-fin origin. Anal fin not reaching caudal-fin base. No dorsal or ventral adipose crest on caudal peduncle. Largest known individual 77 mm SL. Dorsal fin with 8½–9½ branched rays, outer margin straight or convex. Anal fin with 5½ branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly concave. Pectoral fin with 9–11 branched rays, outer margin straight. Pelvic fin with 7 branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly convex. Caudal fin slightly emarginate with 8+8 branched rays, moderately emarginate in juveniles smaller than 40 mm SL. Flank, back and abdomen densely covered by scales. Lateral line complete, terminating at caudal-fin base. Anterior nostril opening at end of a low, ovoid and flap-like tube. Posterior tip of anterior nostril overlapping in small individuals, not overlapping posterior nostril when folded backwards in large individuals. One central pore, two in one individual, and one lateral pore on each side of supra- temporal head canal, 8–10 pores in anterior infraorbital canal, 3–4 pores in posterior infraorbital canal, 6–9 pores in supraorbital canal and 5–7 pores in mandibular canal. A short suborbital groove in male. Mouth small, arched. Lips thick without furrows, lower lip thicker than upper lip. A median interruption in lower lip. Upper lip with a small and short median incision in some individuals, absent in others. Processus dentiformis narrow, very small and rounded. Lower jaw rounded, without median notch. Barbels long; inner rostral barbel reaching to or beyond base of maxillary barbel, outer reaching beyond anterior margin of eye, to middle of eye in some individuals. Maxillary barbel reaching beyond vertical through middle of eye or to or beyond posterior margin of eye. Barbels very short in largest individuals. Coloration. Body with yellowish or pale brown background and dark- or pale-brown pattern in live and preserved individuals. Preserved individuals with a wide inner-axial stripe, absent in life. Dorsal head and upper part of cheek brown, with a vermiculate pattern. Ventral surface of head yellowish without pattern. Flank densely mottled, without bars or blotches, marbled or with bars on flank behind dorsal-fin origin in individuals smaller than 50 mm SL, almost plain brown in some individuals. Flank pigmentation reaching down to horizontal of pectoral-fin base or to belly in some individuals. Back mottled, marbled or with 3–4 squarish or triangular predorsal blotches, confluent with flank pattern, one saddle at dorsal-fin origin, one or none in middle of dorsal-fin base and one at end of dorsal- fin base, and 3–6 saddles behind dorsal-fin base, all saddles wider than interspaces. A narrow, black bar at caudal-fin base. Posteriormost upper and lowermost caudal peduncle with a pale yellowish, unpigmented blotch. Dorsal and pectoral fins with small brown blotches on rays, forming 1–3 bands. Caudal fin with many small brown blotches on rays, forming 1–3 wide and bold bands, often band at second half of caudal fin very wide or caudal-fin rays almost completely brown. Pectoral, anal and pelvic fins with dark-brown blotches on rays; hyaline or with few blotches in individuals smaller than 60 mm SL. Distribution. Oxynoemacheilus phasicus was collected from the Enguri and Rioni River drainages in Georgia. It has not been found in the Chorokhi / Çoruh River in Georgia or Turkey or in small rivers in-between despite intensive field work in that area. Etymology. The species name is derived from Phasis, the Greek name of the Rioni. An adjective. Remarks. Nemacheilus bergi was named by Gratzianov (1907) based on a description by Berg (1899) of two individuals (61 mm, 35 mm) from the Akstapha [Agstafa] River, a right tributary of the Kura in Azerbaijan. Berg (1899:73) wrote in his chapter on Nemacheilus sp.: „Die Schwanzflosse ist im Verhältnis zu N. Brandt schwach ausgeschnitten (bei dem Exemplar von 61 mm. Länge ist der mittelste Strahl der Schwanzflosse 8 mm. Und die seitlichen 11 mm lang).” [The caudal fin is slightly emarginate in comparison with N. brandtii (in the specimen of 61 mm the length of the central caudal-fin ray is 8 mm and of the lateral ones 11 mm)]. Also, Berg (1899:72–73) mentions that the pelvic fin reaches the anus, there is a bold bar at the caudal-fin base, a wide band in the middle of the caudal fin and incomplete bars on the flank. This species is further treated as a synonym of O. angorae by Berg (1949), who distinguished O. angorae from O. bergianus by the caudal peduncle being less than two times longer than deep in O. angorae vs. more in O. bergianus. Çiçek et al. (2018) treat N. bergi as a valid species in Oxynoemacheilus without giving further details. Soheil Eagderi (Tehran) sent JF a picture (Fig. 7) of one individual they identified as O. bergi collected in the Kura, very close to the inflow of the Agstafa. Measured from the picture, this individual has the caudal-peduncle depth two times in the caudal-peduncle length, the caudal fin is emarginate and the middle caudal-fin ray is 75% of the length of the longest principal ray in the lower caudal-fin lobe (72% in the description of Berg 1899, but unclear which lobe was measured). These two character states as well as its colour pattern distinguish this species clearly from O. brandtii (caudal peduncle 2.5–3.2 times longer than deep, caudal fin forked). Indeed the fish on Fig. 7 agree with the characters given for N. bergi by Berg (1899) and we support the view of Çiçek et al. (2018) treating O. bergi as a valid species. Oxynoemacheilus bergi is clearly distinguished from O. phasicus by possessing a deeply emarginate caudal fin (vs. slightly emarginate in O. phasicus), and the pelvic fin reaching the anus (vs. not reaching). Potentially O. bergi is conspecific with O. bergianus, described from the Sefid River in Iran and known to occur in the adjacent Aras, a major tributary of the Kura. Future research should clarify if O. bergi is different from O. bergianus. If both are conspecific, O. bergianus would become a junior synonym of O. bergi. We also follow Çiçek et al. (2018) in treating N. angorae alasanicus as a synonym of O. bergi and N. brandtii gibbusnazus as a synonym of O. brandtii. Çiçek et al. (2018) did not examine any materials of N. a. alasanicus or N. b. gibbusnazus, both described by Elanidze (1983) from the upper Alazani in the Georgian Kura drainage. G. Epitashvili and L. Mumladze (Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia) visited the upper Alazani though yet only O. brandtii was collected. Çiçek et al. (2018) give no arguments for their conclusion and did not analyse the description of both species. However, we also have no arguments to reject the hypothesis of Çiçek et al. (2018), as the descriptions are not very conclusive, without figures and we also did not examine enough materials by our own. Only four loaches from the type locality of both species were available for this study and these are identified as O. brandtii. It is likely that Elanidze (1983) had identified his materials by the key provided by Berg (1949) and correctly identified one species as O. brandtii and the second species, which has a deeper caudal peduncle and an emarginate (vs. furcate) fin, was identified as O. angorae. He then described new subspecies for both species, and thus N. angorae alasanicus might be identified as O. bergi. Eagderi et al. (2018) distinguish O. elsae (Fig. 9) from O. brandtii (Fig. 8) based on 10, non-overlapping morphometric characters (dorsal-fin base length, anal-fin base length, anal-fin depth, pelvic-fin length, caudal-fin length, caudal-peduncle width, snout length, eye diameter, interorbital distance, maxillary barbel length). They compared 20 O. elsae with five O. brandtii from the Kura drainage. We examined 20 individuals from each species and found all the 10 morphometric characters overlapping. In seven out of 10 characters no significant difference from equality of their mean values were detected. Only the means of the pelvic-fin length, length of the lower caudal-fin lobe, and the eye diameter were significantly different (Fig. 10). Also these morphometric characters largely overlap: pelvic-fin length 14–20, mean 18% SL in O. brandtii (vs. 14–17, mean 16 in O. elsae), length of lower caudal-fin lobe 20–27, mean 24% SL (vs. 19–23, mean 21), and the eye diameter 13–21, mean 17% HL (vs. 17–24, mean 20). The overlap in the pelvic-fin length is due to two individuals only and from 49 O. brandtii all except two individuals, have a pelvic-fin length 17–20 % SL, one has 14% SL and one has 15% SL. This character allows to distinguish O. brandtii from O. elsae if a larger number of individuals is available, while the other characters can just support their diagnosis. Oxynoemacheilus elsae is well distinguished from O. brandtii by the shape of the caudal fin, which is emarginate in O. elsae (vs. forked in O. brandtii) and by details in colour pattern. Oxynoemacheilus elsae usually possess a flank pattern of irregularly shaped and spaced, dark-brown bars, often split in middle, more narrow than interspaces, or flank almost plain brown (vs. flank with brown bars or vertically elongate blotches, much wider than interspaces, usually regularly set) and the caudal fin possess many small brown blotches on rays arranged in 3–6, narrow, pale-brown band (vs. caudal fin with 1–3, wide and very bold bands). However, the flank pattern is variable in both species and occasionally almost plain brown individuals or individuals with many, very narrow bars occur. Oxynoemacheilus elsae is separated from O. brandtii by a minimum K2P distance of 1.5% (Aras) and 4.9% (Kura) in the mtDNA COI barcode region (Fig. 1). Oxynoemacheilus from the Aras River (Fig. 11), a major tributary to the Kura, cluster as sister to O. elsae in our molecular analysis based on all three approaches (ML, NJ, MP). In all morphological characters distinguishing O. elsae from O. brandtii, the population from the Aras agrees with O. brandtii and not with O. elsae (Fig. 9) including the characteristic colour pattern of O. brandtii. These fish are significantly different from O. elsae in the pelvic-fin length mentioned above, but not different from O. brandtii in any of these or other characters examined. The obvious mismatch between morphological and molecular characters, which suggests that the fish from the Aras should be identified as O. elsae cannot be resolved here. It could be speculated that past river-captures might have resulted in an invasion of a mitochondrial haplotype of O. elsae from Urmia into the adjacent Aras. While they hybridised with native O. brandtii, their mitochondria might have performed better and gave the carriers an evolutionary benefit which spread in the Aras. If so, what cannot be excluded, we would find O. brandtii with mtDNA of O. elsae. The small molecular distance between O. elsae and O. brandtii from the Aras in their mtDNA indicates the time passed since the connection of the Aras with the Urmia basin. Further nuclear molecular research is needed in the future aiming to clarify the case. We suggest to identify the fish from the Aras as O. brandtii due to its morphological similarity to this species.

Oxynoemacheilus shehabi, new species (Figs 2–6) Holotype. ZFMK ICH 124181, 46.3 mm SL; Syria: Orontes at Al Qusayr, 34.5086 36.5389. Paratypes. ZFMK ICH-125126-28, 3, 41.5–47.6 mm SL; same data as holotype. Material used in molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-1227; same data as holotype (GenBank accession numbers: KJ553795, KJ554073) Diagnosis. Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is distinguished from O. hamwii and O. namiri, the two other species of Oxynoemacheilus known from the Orontes, by possessing a very slender caudal peduncle (caudal-peduncle depth 1.8–2.4 times in its length vs. 1.2–1.4 in O. namiri; 1.4–1.9 in O. hamwii), a suborbital groove in male (vs. absent in O. namiri), and a complete lateral line terminating on the caudal-fin base (vs. incomplete, terminating behind the dorsal-fin base, or on the caudal-fin base in some individuals in O. namiri). It is further distinguished from O. hamwii by possessing two, usually indistinct, black blotches or spots at the caudal-fin base (vs. one bold central blotch or no bold black blotch on the caudal-fin base, often an irregularly-shaped black bar at the caudal-fin base), and the flank with 5–7 irregularly shaped bars (vs. flank in juveniles with a midlateral series of horizontally elongate blotches, adults with a brown marbled pattern). See below to distinguish O. shehabi from other species of the O. persa species group. Description. See Figures 2–6 for general appearance and Table 2 for morphometric data. Small-sized and slender species. Body deepest at about midline between nape and dorsal-fin origin. Body width greatest at pectoral-fin base. Section of head roundish, flattened on ventral surface, slightly convex in interorbital space, convex on snout. Snout pointed. Caudal peduncle compressed laterally, 1.8–2.4 times longer than deep. Pelvic axillary lobe present, its tip attached to flank. Pelvic-fin origin below first or second branched dorsal-fin ray. Anal-fin origin at about vertical of midline between dorsal and caudal-fin origins. Pectoral fin reaching to approximately 70–90% of distance from pectoral-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic fin reaching anus, or reaching to genital papillae; reaching vertical of tip of last dorsal-fin ray or slightly anterior to that point. Anus about 50–70% of an eye diameter anterior to anal-fin origin. Anal fin not reaching caudal-fin base. No dorsal or ventral adipose crest on caudal peduncle. Largest known individual 48 mm SL, expected to grow larger. Dorsal fin with 8½ branched rays, outer margin concave. Anal fin with 5½ branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly concave. Pectoral fin with 9 branched rays, outer margin straight. Pelvic fin with 7 branched rays, outer margin straight or slightly convex. Caudal fin deeply emarginate with 9+8 branched rays. Flank and back covered by cycloid scales, scales irregularly set on back. Lateral line complete, terminating at caudal-fin base. Anterior nostril opening at end of a low, ovoid, flap-like tube. Posterior tip of anterior nostril overlapping posterior nostril when folded backwards. One central pore and one lateral pore on each side of supratemporal head canal, 3–4 + 8–10 pores in infraorbital canal, 6–7 pores in supraorbital canal, and 9–10 pores in mandibular canal. A long suborbital groove in male. Mouth small, arched. Lips thick without furrows, lower lip thicker than upper lip. A median interruption in lower lip. Upper lip with a small and short median incision in one individual, absent in others. Processus dentiformis narrow and rounded. Lower jaw rounded, without median notch. Barbels long; inner rostral barbel reaching base of maxillary barbel, outer reaching to or slightly beyond anterior margin of eye. Maxillary barbel reaching beyond vertical through posterior margin of eye, almost to posterior eye-margin. Coloration. Body with yellowish or pale brown background and dark-brown pattern in live and preserved individuals. Preserved individuals with a dark-grey, narrow inner-axial stripe, absent in life. Dorsal head and upper part of cheek brown, without pattern. Ventral surface of head yellowish without pattern. Flank with 5–7 dark-brown bars, thinner than interspaces. Flank bars irregularly shaped and set, extending to middorsal saddles and meeting contralaterals. Shape of flank bars usually interrupted in shape and size at lateral midline, dissociated in blotches on predorsal part of flank in two individuals. Back with 1–2 predorsal saddles, one saddle at dorsal-fin origin and one at posterior dorsal-fin base, and 2–3 saddles behind dorsal fin, all saddles thinner than interspaces. Flank above lateral midline with short, very narrow, brown lines, often oriented along myosepts. One dark-brown blotch at lower caudal-fin base, a second, much smaller blotch at uppermost caudal-fin base, both indistinct in preserved individuals. Posteriormost upper and lowermost caudal peduncle with a pale yellowish, unpigmented blotch. Dorsal and pectoral fins with many, small brown blotches on rays, forming 1–3 narrow bands. Caudal fin with many small brown blotches on rays, forming 3–7 bands. Pectoral, anal and pelvic fins with dark-brown blotches on rays; anal fin hyaline or with few blotches. Distribution. Oxynoemacheilus shehabi was collected from the upper Orontes in Syria. As the species has not been found in the lower Orontes in Turkey, it is expected to be endemic to the southern headwaters of this river. Etymology. The species is named for Adwan Shehab, one of Syria’s most active and renowned zoologists, who hosted and logistically enabled our team during our field-work in Syria in 2008, when the type material of the species was collected. On 16 th of February 2015, Adwan was killed in the streets of Dara’a as a result of the still ongoing bloody conflict in Syria (Amr 2015). A noun in genitive. Remarks. Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in the O. persa species group by a combination of characters, none of them unique. It belongs to a group of species (O. argyrogramma, O. euphraticus, O. hanae, O. karunensis, O. kurdistanicus, O. marunensis, O. persa, and O. “ seyhanicola ”) in which males have a suborbital groove (vs. absent in O. chomanicus, O. kentritensis, O. zagrosensis, and O. zarzianus) and a deeply emarginate or forked caudal fin (vs. slightly emarginate or truncate in O. chomanicus, O. kentritensis, O. zagrosensis, and O. zarzianus). The new species is related to a fish identified as O. seyhanicola from the lower Seyhan. This species was described based on a single individual diagnosed by lacking scales, having a long and pointed snout and a series of large, midlateral blotches (Erk’akan et al. 2007). Geiger et al. (2014) published sequences of two groups of fishes identified as O. seyhanicola, which were very different to each other, both also shown in Fig. 1. Both populations have scales on the flank but we would need to re-examine the type of O. seyhanicola to verify that there are really no scales. Obviously two species are involved in O. seyhanicola. One of these is related to O. shehabi, while the other is related to O. evreni from the Ceyhan and O. hamwii from the Orontes. We distinguish O. shehabi from those O. “ seyhanicola ” (Fig. 7) being closely related to O. shehabi and not from those related to O. evreni and O. hamwii. Further research is needed to resolve the identity of O. seyhanicola and we cannot fully exclude that a third species might be involved. Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is distinguished from O. persa and O. “ seyhanicola ” by possessing 5–7 bars, irregularly shaped and set, extending to the middorsal saddles and meeting the contralaterals (vs. flank with a midlateral series of large blotches, disconnected from saddles on the back in O. “ seyhanicola ” and most individuals of O. persa; blotches sometimes vertically elongated in O. persa, some individuals with 3–5 bars on flank behind the dorsal-fin base), two, usually indistinct, black blotches or spots at caudal-fin base (vs. two very large blotches, usually fused to an irregularly shaped bar in O. persa); a well-developed pelvic axillary lobe fully attached to the body (vs. no lobe or lobe rudimentary in O. persa); caudal peduncle 1.8–2.4 times longer than deep (vs. 1.5–1.8 in O. “ seyhanicola ”). The new species is distinguished from O. argyrogramma and O. marunensis by possessing 5–7 irregularly shaped bars on the flank, dissociated into large blotches on the anterior flank in a few individuals (vs. marbled or mottled colour pattern on flank in O. argyrogramma, mottled with a midlateral series of blotches in O. marunensis). Further, the caudal peduncle is more slender in O. shehabi (caudal peduncle depth 1.8–2.4 times longer than deep vs. 1.5–1.8 in O. argyrogramma, 1.4–1.9 in O. marunensis). The two black blotches or spots on the caudal-fin base are small and indistinct in O. shehabi (vs. prominent in life and preserved fishes in O. argyrogramma and O. marunensis) and it has no, or only a very short, incision in the upper lip (vs. a deep median incision in O. argyrogramma). Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is distinguished also from O. euphraticus and O. kurdistanicus by possessing two, usually indistinct, black blotches or spots at the caudal-fin base (vs. very prominent in live and preserved fishes), no, or only a very shallow incision in the upper lip (vs. a deep median incision), and possessing 5–7 irregularly shaped bars on flank (vs. flank pattern irregularly mottled or marbled on flank in front of dorsal fin and with more than 7 bars on the flank behind the dorsal-fin base in O. euphraticus). Oxynoemacheilus shehabi is further distinguished from O. kurdistanicus by having a more slender caudal peduncle (caudal-peduncle depth 8–9% SL vs. 9–11). It is distinguished from O. hanae by possessing 5–7 irregularly shaped bars on the flank (vs. a midlateral series of dark-brown roundish or ovoid blotches), confluent with saddles on the back (vs. blotches on the flank not confluent with saddles on the back); mid-lateral blotches reaching down to the ventral side of the caudal peduncle (vs. not reaching), and caudal peduncle 1.8–2.4 times longer than deep (vs. 1.4–1.8). The new species is distinguished from O. karunensis by possessing a well-developed pelvic axillary lobe, fully attached to the body (vs. lobe absent or rudimentary, shallow and knob-shaped); 5–7 bars on flank (vs. a series of dark-brown roundish or ovoid blotches along mid-lateral flank), bars reaching down to ventral side of caudal peduncle (vs. not reaching), and flank bars confluent with saddles on back (vs. mid-lateral blotches usually not confluent with saddles on back, but often overlapping).

Paracobitis abrishamchiani, new species (Figs. 3���7) Holotype. VMFC PCAB-H, 95 mm SL; Iran: Mazandaran prov.: a tributary of Babol River, upstream of Lafour reservoir, near Galeshkola, 36��12'33"N 052��46'16"E; S. Vatandoust & H. Mousavi-Sabet. Paratypes. All from Iran: Mazandaran prov.: VMFC PCAB-P1, 5, 43���68 mm SL; VMFC PCAB-P2, 16, 46��� 85 mm SL; VMFC PCAB-P3, 7, 48���89 mm SL; same data as holotype. Additional materials. All from Iran: Mazandaran prov.: VMFC PCAB-P 4, 13, 34���84 mm SL; a tributary of Siah River at Seyed-Abu-Saleh, 36��25'0.22"N 53��1'5.81"E; H. Mousavi-Sabet & S. Vatandoust.��� FSJF 4058, 2, 86���92 mm SL; VMFC PCAB-P 5, 3, 89���110 mm SL; VMFC PCAB-P 6, 14, 46���94 mm SL; VMFC PCAB-P 7, 5, 68���97 mm SL; stream Shirin at Ali-Abad, at the road from Sari to Damghan, a tributary of Tajan River, 36��27'28"N 053��07'35"E; H. Mousavi-Sabet & S. Vatandoust.��� VMFC PCAB-P 8, 2, 96���97 mm SL; stream Kashpal, near Chamestan, 36��28'22.05"N 52��5'46.08"E; H. Mousavi-Sabet & S. Alavi-Yeganeh.��� VMFC PCAB-P 9, 3, 78���90 mm SL; a tributary of Talar River, at Zirab, 36��11'74"N 053��00'92"E; H. Mousavi-Sabet & S. Vatandoust. Material for molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA-2754, FSJF-DNA2755; Tajan River at Ali-Abad, 36��27'28"N 053��07'35"E (GenBank accession numbers: MK238773, MK238774).��� FSJF DNA-2756; Babol River at Galeshkola, 36��12'33"N 052��46'16"E (GenBank accession numbers: MK238770, MK238771). ��� FSJF DNA-2757; stream Kashpal, at Chamestan, 36��28'22.05"N 52�� 5'46.08"E (GenBank accession number: MK 238772). Diagnosis. Paracobitis abrishamchiani is distinguished from the other species of Paracobitis in the Middle East by a combination of characters, none of them unique. It is distinguished from P. hircanica and P. atrakensis, two other species found in rivers of the eastern Caspian Sea basin, by having scales on the flank posterior to the dorsal-fin origin, sparsely set on the flank between the dorsal-fin origin and the anal-fin base, densely set on the caudal peduncle (vs. scales absent) and the caudal-fin rays hyaline with an irregular pattern of dark-brown or black spots and elongated blotches often organised in 1���2 wide, irregularly-shaped bars (vs. caudal-fin rays dark-brown or black, having a hyaline base and a hyaline posterior margin in P. hircanica). The base and posterior caudal-fin margin is also hyaline in P. abrishamchiani. Paracobitis abrishamchiani is further distinguished from P. hircanica by having many, pale- or dark-brown blotches and spots on the body. In individuals larger than 60 mm SL, the blotches are usually roundish or vertically elongated, some are fused to each-other. The blotches are commashaped along the lateral midline in smaller individuals forming a densely-set row (vs. a mid-lateral row of spots and small blotches, fused to an incomplete, irregularly shaped stripe along the lateral line in most individuals in P. hircanica). Paracobitis abrishamchiani is further distinguished from P. atrakensis by having a well-developed axillary pelvic lobe (vs. absent). It is distinguished from P. basharensis by having an emarginate caudal fin (vs. truncate or slightly emarginate), the dorsal-fin origin usually slightly behind a vertical through the pelvic-fin origin, rarely above or in front (vs. about one eye diameter behind a vertical through the pelvic-fin origin in P. basharensis) and a mid-lateral series of comma-shaped, pale-brown blotches in individuals smaller than 60 mm SL (vs. many brown, medium sized, widely spaced and irregularly shaped blotches forming a mottled pattern on predorsal back and on flank). In individuals larger than 60 mm SL, P. abrishamchiani is distinguished from P. malapterura and P. persa by having many, pale- or dark-brown, roundish or vertically elongated, widely spaced blotches and spots on the body, some fused to each-other (vs. a densely set pattern of dark-brown vermiculations on flank in P. malapterura, coarse brown marbling and a prominent lateral series of blotches or a midlateral stripe in P. persa). In individuals smaller than 60 mm SL, P. abrishamchiani is distinguished from P. malapterura and P. persa by having a mid-lateral series of comma-shaped, pale-brown blotches (vs. a mid-lateral row of spots, small and large blotches fused to an incomplete, irregularly shaped, stripe along the lateral line in most individuals). Paracobitis abrishamchiani is further distinguished from P. malapterura and P. persa by having 77���85 lateral line pores (vs. 87���96 pores in P. malapterura and 85-91 pores in P. persa). Paracobitis abrishamchiani is further distinguished from P. malapterura by a deeper head, its depth at eye being 48���52% HL (vs. 46���48% in P. malapterura). Paracobitis abrishamchiani is further distinguished from P. persa by a deeper caudal adipose crest, its depth at the highest point being 3.2��� 3.6% SL (vs. 2.1���3.2% in P. persa of same size), and the tube of the anterior nostril fully overlapping the posterior nostril when folded back (vs. not reaching beyond the posterior tip of the posterior nostril when folded back in P. persa). The new species is distinguished from P. molavii by having an emarginate caudal fin (vs. truncate), and a colour pattern of many, widely spaced, brown spots and blotches, organised in a midlateral series of comma-shaped spots in individuals smaller than 60 mm SL (vs. small, irregularly shaped and closely set brown blotches often forming a dense mottled pattern on the predorsal back and on flank). Paracobitis abrishamchiani is distinguished from P. zabgawraensis by having a colour pattern of many widely spaced brown spots and blotches in individuals larger than 60 mm SL, organised in a midlateral series of commashaped spots in individuals smaller than 60 mm SL (vs. almost plain brown with a yellowish, narrow reticulate pattern). It is distinguished from P. longicauda, P. rhadinaea and P. vignai by having a roundish posterior narial opening (vs. slit-like) and the scales on the flank present posterior to the dorsal-fin origin, sparsely set on the flank between the dorsal-fin origin and the anal-fin base, densely set on the caudal peduncle (vs. flank fully covered by scales in P. longicauda, the flank without scales in P. vignai). The new species is further distinguished from the other species discussed above (with the exception of P. basharensis) by the position of the dorsal-fin origin, which is usually situated behind a vertical through the pelvicfin origin (vs. in front of the vertical through the pelvic-fin origin). While this is the case in most individuals of P. abrishamchiani, some individuals have the dorsal-fin origin above the pelvic-fin or in front of the pelvic-fin origin. This character is therefore helpful to identify larger series of P. abrishamchiani, but not fully diagnostic for the species. Description. For general appearance see Figs. 3���7; morphometric data are provided in Table 2. Medium sized and elongate species with laterally compressed caudal peduncle. Predorsal profile convex, prepelvic profile straight. Body deepest at about dorsal-fin origin or slightly anterior to it, depth decreasing towards caudal-fin base. No hump at nape, or only a slight hump at nape in some individuals (in population from Tajan River). Greatest body width at pectoral-fin base, body almost uniformly wide until dorsal-fin origin, tapering towards caudal-fin base. Section of head roundish, flattened on ventral surface; slightly depressed, almost conical. Head length 1.5��� 1.8 times in body depth. Snout rounded, its length 0.9���1.0 times in postorbital head length. Eye relatively small, eye diameter 3.1���5.0 times in head depth at eye, 1.6���3.1 times in interorbital width. Eye located on anterior half of head or at mid-head. No suborbital flap or groove in male. Nares rounded, located just anterior to eye. Anterior narial opening developed as a low, pointed, flap-like tube. Posterior naris narrow; nares adjacent, posterior tip of anterior naris reaching to posterior naris when folded down. Mouth small, distinctly arched (Fig. 8). Lips moderately thick, well furrowed. Lower lip interrupted medially (Fig. 8). No median notch in lower jaw. Upper lip without median incision. Processus dentiformis large, blunt (Fig. 8). Maxillary barbel long, reaching to posterior margin of eye or beyond. Outer rostral barbel reaching beyond vertical through posterior nostril, to vertical through anterior eye margin in some individuals. Inner rostral barbel not reaching origin of maxillary barbel. Caudal peduncle 1.6���2.8 times longer than deep (crest not included). Dorsal adipose crest on caudal peduncle welldeveloped, not reaching posterior part of dorsal-fin base, reaching to caudal-fin base. Flank behind dorsal-fin origin covered by minute scales with an eccentric, relatively small focal zone; scales sparsely set on flank between dorsalfin origin and anal-fin base, densely set on caudal peduncle. Lateral line straight, complete, with 77���85 pores, reaching to, or almost to caudal-fin base, pores often irregularly set. One central and one lateral pore in supratemporal canal, 10 pores in anterior infraorbital canal, four pores in posterior infraorbital canal, 8���9 pores in supraorbital canal and 9���11 pores in preoperculo-mandibular canal. No external sexual dimorphism observed. Largest known individual 110 mm SL. Dorsal fin with 6�����7�� branched rays. First unbranched rays deeply hidden in skin. Dorsal-fin origin usually slightly behind vertical through pelvic-fin origin, rarely above or in front. Margin of dorsal fin straight or slightly convex. Dorsal fin reaches to or slightly beyond anterior-most tip of adipose crest when folded backwards. Anal fin with 5�� branched rays. First unbranched rays deeply hidden in skin. Anal fin not reaching caudal-fin base. Anus about one eye diameter in front of anal-fin origin. Pectoral fin with one simple and 8 (10), 9 (10) or 10 (8) branched rays. Pectoral fin reaching approximately 50���70% of distance from pectoral-fin origin to pelvic-fin origin. Pelvic fin with one simple and 7 (20) or 8 (8) branched rays. Pelvic fin not reaching anus. A distinct axillary lobe at pelvic-fin base, its posterior part free from body in large individuals, fully attached in small individuals. Caudal fin emarginated (length of middle ray 79���88% of longest branched ray in upper lobe), with 9+8 (7), 9+9 (19) and 10+9 (2) branched rays. Coloration. In preserved individuals, background colour on head and body pale yellow to whitish with brown pattern. Dorsal surface of head pale yellowish with a fine marbled or vermiculate, brown pattern. Cheeks pale yellowish or whitish. Anterior part of flank and back with many pale- or dark-brown blotches and spots, often forming a marmorate pattern. Flank pattern denser and blotches smaller on flank anterior to dorsal-fin base, coarser posterior to dorsal-fin base, pattern extending onto adipose crest. In individuals larger than 60 mm SL, blotches usually small and roundish, irregularly shaped or vertically elongated, some fused to each-other. Blotches usually comma-shaped along lateral midline in smaller individuals, forming a densely set row. Adipose crest with a darkbrown or black margin in few individuals, pale creamy in others. Belly yellowish-beige, in some individuals with little dark-brown dots, small dark-brown dots also around anal-fin base and on caudal peduncle. Lateral line beige, in contrast to colour pattern on mid-lateral flank. A faint brown stripe from eye to snout. A bold and wide darkbrown or black, irregularly shaped bar at caudal-fin base. A bold black or dark-brown blotch at base of unbranched and branched dorsal-fin rays, base of branched rays 2���3 beige and base of rays 4���7 black or dark brown. Darkbrown or black spots or blotches on dorsal-fin rays, membrane hyaline. Caudal-fin rays hyaline with an irregular pattern of dark-brown or black spots and elongated blotches often organised in 1���2 wide, irregularly shaped bars. Anal, pectoral and pelvic fins usually hyaline, with dark-brown spots (anal and pelvic fins without pigmentation in some individuals). Mental lobes of mouth with dark grey pigmentation. Rostral barbel and bases of maxillary barbels with dark brown pigments, maxillary immaculate. Distribution. Paracobitis abrishamchiani is endemic to Iran where it is known from the rivers Tajan, Siah, Talar, Babol, Haraz and Kashpal in the southern Caspian Sea basin. Etymology. The species is named in honour of Mir-Jafar Abrishamchian (1930���2018) and his son Ali Abrishamchian (1954���2007), the great benefactors in Guilan Province, to respect their developmental services in support of the University of Guilan and its students. Notes on habitat and conservation. Paracobitis abrishamchiani was collected in streams with clear water and swift current at 317���566 m altitude (Fig. 9). Similar to its congeners, it was found to be rare at the type locality and other sites. Comparative material. See Freyhof et al. (2014), Esmaeili et al. (2014) and Mousavi-Sabet et al. (2015) for materials of other Paracobitis species examined for this study. New material used in the molecular genetic analysis: Paracobitis atrakensis, FSJF DNA-2759; Iran: Atrak River south of Baba Aman park, 37��28'41.13"N 57��25'58.98"E. (GenBank accession numbers: MK 238762, MK 238763). Paracobitis hircanica, FSJF DNA-1984; Iran: stream flowing to Gorgan River south of Galikesh, 37��14'58.91"N 55��28'54.14"E. (GenBank accession numbers: MK 238764, MK 238765). Paracobitis rhadinaea, FSJF DNA-2486; Iran: Chah-Nimeh reservoir south of Zahak, (GenBank accession number: MK238768, MK238769).��� FSJF DNA-2615; Iran: Chah-Nimeh reservoir about 50 km south of Zabol, 30��48'02.52''N 61��41'14.35''E. (GenBank accession number: MK 238766).��� FSJF DNA-2749; Chah-Nimeh reservoir south of Zahak, 30��50'30.53"N 61��42'22.13"E. (GenBank accession number: MK 238767). Paracobitis zabgawraensis, FSJF DNA-2679; Turkey: stream ��ıratan about 5 km east of G��m��skanat, 38.38463 41.781780. (GenBank accession number: MK 238776).��� FSJF DNA-2640; Iraq: stream Choman at Qubay Galala, 36��36'38"N 44��50'17"E. (GenBank accession number: MK 238775). Paraschistura kessleri, FSJF DNA-2780; Iran: stream Dahizva north of Gaxu, 28��30'49.89"N 61��31'29.77"E. (GenBank accession number: MK 238777). Site-scale records shown in Figure 1. Previous records (based on Esmaeili et al. 2014, Mousavi-Sabet et al. 2015): 1: 37��29'37.88"N 57��26'25.63"E; 2: 37��28'41.13"N 57��25'58.98"E; 3: 37��40'38.67"N 56��58'12.17"E; 4: 37��23'28.92"N 55��45'11.86"E; 5: 37��14'59.03"N 55��28'53.87"E; 6: 36��53'0.34"N 54��57'31.68"E; 7: 36��50'47.31"N 54��58'54.15"E. New records: 8: 36��27���28"N 053��07'35"E; 9: 36��11���74"N 053��00'92"E; 10: 36��25'0.22"N 53��1'5.81"E; 11: 36��12���33"N 052��46'16"E; 12: 36�� 8'54.60"N 52��21'42.96"E; 13: 36��28'22.05"N 52�� 5'46.08"E., Published as part of Mousavi-Sabet, Hamed, Vatandoust, Saber, Geiger, Matthias F. & Freyhof, J��rg, 2019, Paracobitis abrishamchiani, a new crested loach from the southern Caspian Sea basin (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae), pp. 375-388 in Zootaxa 4545 (3) on pages 377-387, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4545.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/2618930, {"references":["Freyhof, J., Esmaeili, H. R., Sayyadzadeh, G. & Geiger, M. (2014) Review of the crested loaches of the genus Paracobitis from Iran and Iraq with the description of four new species (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25, 11 - 38.","https: // doi. org / 10.1093 / nar / gkh 340 Esmaeili, H. R., Mousavi-Sabet, H., Sayyadzadeh, G., Vatandoust, S. & Freyhof, J. (2014) Paracobitis atrakensis, a new crested loach from northeast Iran (Teleostei: Nemacheiliidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25, 237 - 242."]}

Effective identification of species using short DNA fragments (DNA barcoding and DNA metabarcoding) requires reliable sequence reference libraries of known taxa. Both taxonomically comprehensive coverage and content quality are important for sufficient accuracy. For aquatic ecosystems in Europe, reliable barcode reference libraries are particularly important if molecular identification tools are to be implemented in biomonitoring and reports in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). We analysed gaps in the two most important reference databases, Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and NCBI GenBank, with a focus on the taxa most frequently used in WFD and MSFD. Our analyses show that coverage varies strongly among taxonomic groups, and among geographic regions. In general, groups that were actively targeted in barcode projects (e.g. fish, true bugs, caddisflies and vascular plants) are well represented in the barcode libraries, while others have fewer records (e.g. marine molluscs, ascidians, and freshwater diatoms). We also found that species monitored in several countries often are represented by barcodes in reference libraries, while species monitored in a single country frequently lack sequence records. A large proportion of species (up to 50%) in several taxonomic groups are only represented by private data in BOLD. Our results have implications for the future strategy to fill existing gaps in barcode libraries, especially if DNA metabarcoding is to be used in the monitoring of European aquatic biota under the WFD and MSFD. For example, missing species relevant to monitoring in multiple countries should be prioritized for future collaborative programs. We also discuss why a strategy for quality control and quality assurance of barcode reference libraries is needed and recommend future steps to ensure full utilisation of metabarcoding in aquatic biomonitoring. (VLID)3614700

Mousavi-Sabet, Hamed, Ganjbakhsh, Babak, Geiger, Matthias F., Freyhof, Jörg (2016): Redescription of Gobio nigrescens from the Hari River drainage (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa 4114 (1): 71-80, DOI: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4114.1.4

Barbatula sp.: FSJF DNA-754; Romania:Nera River betweenSlatina Nera and SascaMontana, 44 ° 45 'N 21 ° 41 'E (GenBank accession number: KU 928307). — FSJF DNA- 1254; Germany: stream Pleisbach at Niederpleis, a tributary of River Sieg, 50 ° 47 'N 7 ° 18 'E (GenBank accession number: KU 928308).

Lefua pleskei: EEFF 169; Russia: marshes at Komissarovka River about 15 km NE of Dvoryanka, Amur River drainage, 44 �� 56 ' 28 "N 131 �� 40 ' 9 "E (BOLD dataset: DS-SASANID). ��� EEFF 080; Russia: stream flowing to Hunchun River about about seven km south of Madidacun, Amur River drainage, 42 �� 54 '0"N 130 �� 47 ' 42 "E (BOLD dataset: DS-SASANID)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Mesonoemacheilus guentheri: FSJF DNA- 2532; FSJF DNA- 2549; India: Karnataka: stream between Mukkodlu to Surlabhi, Cauvery River drainage, 12 �� 34 ' 2 "N 75 �� 45 ' 42 "E (GenBank accession numbers: KU 928271, KU 928272, KU 928273, KU 928274)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Aborichthys sp.: Collection J. Bohlen A 3972, A 3973; India: Rydak, Specimens from the ornamental fish trade (GenBank accession numbers: KU 928264, KU 928265)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Oxynoemacheilus zagrosensis: FSJF DNA- 2225; Iraq: stream Suraw near Suraw, 35 �� 45.76 'N 45 �� 59.09 'E (GenBank accession number: KU 928286)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Nemachilichthys ruppelli: Collection J. Bohlen A 4341, A 4345; India: Specimens from the ornamental fish trade (GenBank accession numbers: KU 928277, KU 928278)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Ilamnemacheilus, a junior synonym of Oxynoemacheilus Material examined. CMNFI 1979 -0366, holotype, 36.0 mm SL; Iran: Meymeh River, 17 kilometers west of Dehloran, about 21 kilometers east of Iraqi border, 32 ° 45 ' 30 "N, 47 °05' 30 "E. — CMNFI 1979 -0367, 1, 41.3 mm SL; Iran: Khuzestan prov.: Meymeh River 11 km north of Dehloran, 32 º 44 ' 30 "N 47 º09' 30 "E. — CMNFI 1979 - 0 365, 5, 32.0– 40.5 mm SL; Iran: Khuzestan prov.: stream in Doveyrich drainage, 32 º 25 "N 47 º 36 ' 30 "E. To demonstrate that Sasanidus kermanshahensis does not belong to Ilamnemacheilus, we revisited this genus. Coad & Nalbant (2005) described Ilamnemacheilus longipinnis based on a single individual (Fig. 8) from the Meymeh River, which is a tributary of the lower Tigris in Iran. Already in the description of the genus and species, Coad & Nalbant (2005) showed that the holotype is malformed with strong vertebral abnormalities. The vertebral abnormalities account for the unusual body form of the holotype (Fig. 8). It is not surprizing, that such malformed fishes were never found again in the area and Abdoli et al. (2011) even speculated that the species might be extinct, at least at the type locality. JF had the opportunity to examine loaches from CMNFI (Fig. 9) and found eight individuals of a species being superficially similar to I. longipinnis in the head shape, the shape of the caudal fin, with the colour pattern consisting of a midlateral series of large brown blotches. All these fishes had been collected on the same day in a relatively small area in the Meymeh River drainage close to the type locality of I. longipinnis. These fishes are more elongated than the holotype of I. longipinnis and have 8 ½ branched dorsal-fin rays (vs. 10 ½ in the type of I. longipinnis). All differences between the holotype and the other materials seem to be related to the malformation of the holotype. Therefore, we identify the other individuals from the Meymeh River drainage too, as I. longipinnis. Already in the key of the genera of Middle East nemacheilids, Freyhof et al. (2011) found no clear character to distinguish Ilamnemacheilus (based on the description of the genus) from Oxynoemacheilus. Coad & Nalbant (2005) too, did not distinguish Ilamnemacheilus from other nemacheilid genera but provided only a description. Having examined the additional materials, we find no diagnostic character state or combination thereof to distinguishing Ilamnemacheilus from Oxynoemacheilus and therefore synonymize Ilamnemacheilus with Oxynoemacheilus.

Acanthocobitis pavonaceus: Collection J. BohlenA1863, A1864; India:Aquarium trade (GenBankaccessionnumber: KU928266, KU928267)., Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 77, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Garra sindhi, new species (Figs. 2���6) Holotype. ONHM 4196, 82 mm SL; Sultanate of Oman: Dhofar prov.: Wadi Andhur, 17��34'6.956"N 54��42'17.518"E; 3 Aug 2015, R.G. Lyon. Paratypes. ONHM 4197, 3, 38���85 mm SL; same data as holotype; Genbank accession number: KX244649, KX244650, KX244651, KX244652). ���FSJF 3527, 5, 39���52 mm SL; ONHM 4219, 30, 30���57 mm SL; Sultanate of Oman: Dhofar prov.: Wadi Andhur, 17��34'13.224"N 54��42'12.211"E; 9 Nov 2015, R.G. Lyon. Diagnosis. Garra sindhi is distinguished from the other two species of Garra of the Omani Dhofar province by the following combination of characters. It differs from G. s m a r t i by having the belly and breast behind the pectoral-fin origin fully covered by deeply embedded scales (vs. scales absent in front of the posterior pectoral-fin base), 8���12 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (vs. 13���15), maximum body depth at about middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin (vs. maximum body depth at dorsal-fin origin), a prominent hump on back in some individuals (vs. no hump) and the oral disc being wider than long (vs. longer than wide). Garra sindhi is distinguished from G. dunsirei, a troglomorphic species, by having normally developed eyes, visible in ventral view (vs. very small, not visible in ventral view), 14���16 circumpeduncular scales (vs. 12), 8���12 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (vs. 6���7) and breast and belly fully covered by deeply embedded scales (vs. scales reduced or absent). Garra lautior and G. mamshuqua are two species from Wadi Hadramut, which is situated about 600 km west of Wadi Andhur. Garra sindhi is distinguished from G. lautior by having a fully-scaled breast and belly (vs. naked in front of anal fin) and from G. mamshuqua by lacking tubercles on snout (vs. present), and the central callous pad being much longer than the anteromedian fold (vs. about equal). Our molecular data show that G. sindhi is only distantly related to the Garra species found in the north of Oman (G. barreimiae, G. gallagheri, G. longipinnis) and it is distinguished from these by lacking tubercles on the head (vs. present at least in mature males). Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244647 93-82-97 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244648 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244646 95-99-99 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244645 Garra longipinnis Hotta Oman CN7572 KM214755 88-99-96 Garra longipinnis Jabal al Akhdar Oman CN5897a KM214752 74-71-90 Garra longipinnis Jabal al Akhdar Oman CN5897b KM214756 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-012 KM214685 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-011 KM214758 99-100-100 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-013 KM214738 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-014 KM214779 99-99-99 Garra barreimiae Wuray UAE NHUAE-001 KM214734 Garra barreimiae Wuray UAE NHUAE-006 KM214767 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-015 KM214774 Garra sahilia Sanaa Yemen CN872 KM214689 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-014 KM214786 99-100-99 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-016 KM214718 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-012 KM214724 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-026 KM214799 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-021 KM214704 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-022 KM214742 87-88-85 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-020 KM214723 91-93-91 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-024 KM214729 Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-027 KM214686 Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-028 KM214749 94-94-92 Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-031 KM214789 97-100-100 100 Garra dunserei Dhofar Oman CN7766 KP069477 99 Garra dunserei Dhofar Oman CN7771 KP069476 100 Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN5874 KM214744 99 82-93-85 98 Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN5893 KM214699 97 Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN773 KM214732 67-65-73 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244649 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244650 99-99-99 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244651 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244652 Garra variabilis Orontes Syria 1159 KJ553391 Garra variabilis Orontes Syria 1159 KJ553567 0.02 Description. See Figures 2���6 for general appearance and Table 1 for morphometric data. Body elongated, moderately compressed laterally, more compressed in region of caudal peduncle. Dorsal head profile rising gently, almost straight, more or less continuous with dorsal body profile to about middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin. Dorsal profile decreasing between middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin and about base of last dorsalfin ray. Slightly decreasing until caudal peduncle. Ventral profile more or less straight to anal-fin origin. Head small, with flat interorbital distance, height at nape less than head length, width at nape greater than depth at nape, without tubercles. Snout pointed, transverse groove absent. Proboscis not or only slightly elevated from depressed rostral surface. Depressed rostral fold poorly expressed. No groove between transverse lobe and lateral surface. Eye placed dorso-laterally in anterior half of head. Barbels in two pairs; rostral barbel antero-laterally located, shorter than eye diameter; maxillary barbel at corner of mouth, shorter than rostral barbel. Rostral cap welldeveloped, fimbriate, papillate on ventral surface. Upper lip present as a thin band of papillae. Upper jaw almost or completely covered by rostral cap. Lower jaw slightly curved or straight. Disc elliptical, shorter than wide or as long as wide and narrower than head width through base of maxillary barbel; papillae on anteromedian fold of same size, regularly arranged; groove between anteromedian fold and central callous-pad narrow and deep in some individuals or shallow and wide in others, papillae on latero-posterior flap of same size and distance as on papillae on anteromedian fold; anterior marginal surface of central callous pad without or with sparsely arranged small papillae; papillae on anteromedian fold and on latero-posterior flap almost or completely absent in some individuals; posterior margin of latero-posterior flap extending vertical to anterior or posterior margin of eye; in some individuals, only the posterior tip of latero-posterior flap is free while in others, the whole rim is free. Largest recorded specimen 85 mm SL, not preserved. Dorsal fin with 3 simple and 7�� branched rays, last simple ray slightly shorter than or equally long as head length; distal margin concave; origin at middle between snout tip and last scale on caudal-fin base; inserted anterior to vertical from pelvic-fin origin; first branched ray longest, tip of last branched ray reaching vertical of anus. Pectoral fin with 1 simple and 12 branched rays, reaching midway or slightly beyond distance between pectoral- and pelvic-fin origin, length shorter than head length. Pelvic fin with 1 simple and 7���8 branched rays, reaching to, or slightly in front of anus, origin closer to anal-fin origin than to pectoral-fin origin, inserted below second or fourth branched dorsal-fin ray. Anal fin short, with 3 simple and 5�� branched rays; first branched ray longest, reaching to dark grey or black blotch on posterior caudal peduncle or slightly anterior to it; distal margin concave; origin almost in middle between caudal-fin base and pelvic-fin origin. 2 scales between anus and anal-fin origin. Caudal fin forked; with 9+8 branched rays; tip of lobes pointed; upper lobe longer than lower lobe. 8���12 small and very short gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch. Lateral line complete, with 34 scales on body and 2 scales on anterior caudal fin. Transverse scale rows above lateral line 3�����4��; between lateral line and pelvic-fin origin 3�� and between lateral line and anal-fin origin 3�����4��. Circumpeduncular scale rows 14���16. Predorsal scales smaller than flank scales, irregularly arranged, anterior predorsal scales deeply embedded. Belly and breast behind pectoral-fin origin scaled, scales deeply embedded. One long axillary scale at base of pelvic fin, and 6 ��� 8 scales between posteriormost pelvic-fin base and anus. FIGURE. 3. Garra sindhi, ONHM 4196, holotype, 82.5 mm SL, lateral, ventral and dorsal view of head; Oman: Wadi Andhur. holotype paratypes (n=34) Colouration. In living specimens: Head, back and flank brown with an olive green hue (Fig. 6). A faith yellow or golden mid-dorsal stripe on back. Ventral surface pale white. Flank darkest along midlateral line with an irregular shaped, wide, dark-brown stripe. Caudal, dorsal, pectoral and pelvic-fins with yellowish or greenish rays and hyaline membranes. Branched dorsal-fin ray 4���7�� with a black spot slightly above base, in some individuals black spot continuous with black dorsal-fin rays. Anal fin hyaline or with greenish pigments at its distal part. A dark-brown blotch behind upper edge of operculum. A dark-brown blotch at middle of posterior-most caudal peduncle in individuals smaller than 40 mm SL. In ethanol-preserved specimens: Head, back and flank brown. Ventral surface pale grey. Flank darker brown along midlateral line than on upper and lower flank, scales with dark-brown margin and pale-brown centre giving the flank a slightly reticulate pattern. Individual flank scales whitish in centre. Caudal, dorsal, pectoral and pelvicfins with grey rays and hyaline membranes. Branched dorsal-fin ray 4���7�� with a black spot slightly above base, in some individuals, black spot continuous with black dorsal-fin rays. Anal fin hyaline or grey at its distal part. A dark-brown blotch behind upper edge of operculum. A dark-brown blotch at middle of posterior-most caudal peduncle in individuals smaller than 40 mm SL. Distribution. Garra sindhi was found in a large pool (Fig. 7) in the lower Wadi Andhur in the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve. Wadi Andhur is an endorheic drainage flowing from the Samhan plateau to the north of the Jebel Samhan escarpment (Garc��a et al. 2015). In areal pictures on Google satellite maps, pools with water are also visible higher up in Wadi Andhur as well as in adjacent wadis and G. sindhi might be more widespread. Further research is recommended to clarify if this is in fact the case. Habitat. Wadi Andhur originates in the Samhan mountain and flows through narrow canyons north to the sand-gravel desert, which forms part of the Nejd. Wadi Andhur is situated in a hyper-arid region, with rainfall ranging from less than 100 mm to between 100���250 mm per year (Kwarteng et al. 2009). Flow is infrequent and unpredictable. Flood events follow heavy storms and cyclones that occur erratically (Kwarteng et al. 2009). Garra sindhi was found in a large pool of about 40 �� 35 m with stagnant water. The average depth of the pool was around 60 cm with a maximum depth of about 80 cm. The water in the pool was clear and Spirogyra sp. and Ceratophyllum demersum were growing along the edges of the bank, as well as several stands of Typha domingensis. The pool has a coarse gravel bed of round limestone pebbles. The pool is frequently visited by livestock and wildlife. Ardea cinerea, Ixobrychus sinensis and Podiceps nigricollis were observed foraging at the pool. Conservation status. Beside the pool, where G. sindhi was found, there are a few much smaller shallow pools upstream, several metres off the main pool. If the species is restricted to these pools, it would be one of the rarest freshwater fish species in the Western Palaearctic. However, several other pools in the upper reaches of Wadi Andhur and in adjacent wadis are visible from areal pictures and the species might be more widespread than presently estimated. Garra dunsirei and G. s m a r t i, two other species from the region, are also restricted to very small water-bodies. The population of G. sindhi appears to be healthy and more than 1000 individuals were recorded at the time of the two visits. Etymology. Named for Cynthia ��� Sindhi ��� Diane Powell in recognition of her support for the first authors work over a decade. Remarks. Garra dunsirei, G. s m a r t i and G. sindhi are three closely related species endemic to the Omani Dhofar province. While G. dunsirei and G. s m a r t i occur in drainage systems flowing to the sea, Wadi Andhur drains to the north, into the Nejd. The weak genetic differentiation between these species suggests a recent origin, which could be verified if geological data were available for this region. It is, however, not paralleled by limited morphological divergence among them, since all three species can be readily identified by their morphology. The existence of species with low genetic divergence corroborates the nature of evolution as a gradual process and highlights the key role taxonomists play in building and monitoring DNA barcode reference libraries used for specimen identification. The Garra population inhabiting Wadi Bani Khalid in the north of Oman had been described as G. barreimiae gallagheri by Krupp (1988). It has already been included in the molecular study by Kruckenhauser et al. (2011), who did not draw any taxonomic conclusions from their study. We found G. gallagheri to be related to G. longipinnis. The study by Kruckenhauser et al. (2011) suggests that the species diversity of Garra in the north of Oman might be underestimated and more than the three actually recognised species (G. barreimiae, G. gallagheri, G. longipinnis) might exist in that small area., Published as part of Lyon, Robert Gary, Geiger, Matthias F. & Freyhof, J��rg, 2016, Garra sindhi, a new species from the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve in Oman (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), pp. 79-88 in Zootaxa 4154 (1) on pages 80-87, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4154.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/256492, {"references":["Kwarteng, A. Y., Dorvlo, A. S. & Vijaya Kumar, G. T. (2009) Analysis of a 27 - year rainfall data (1977 - 2003) in the Sultanate of Oman. Inernational Journal of Climatology, 29, 605 - 617. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1002 / joc. 1727","Krupp, F. (1988) Freshwater fishes of the Wadi Batha drainage. Journal of Oman Studies Special Report, 3, 401 - 404.","Kruckenhauser, L., Haring, E., Seemann, R. & Sattmann, H. (2011) Genetic differentiation between cave and surface dwelling populations of Garra barreimiae (Cyprinidae) in Oman. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11, 172 - 186. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.1186 / 1471 - 2148 - 11 - 172"]}

Sasanidus, new genus Fig. 2–4 Type species. Noemacheilus kermanshahensis Bănărescu & Nalbant, 1966: 151. Material examined. All from Iran: FSJF 3213, 5, 46–63 mm SL; Hamadan prov.: Gamasiab River, 34 ° 13 'N 48 ° 17 'E. — FSJF 3234, 5, 30–45 mm SL; Kermanshah prov.: Sepidbarg River west of Javanrud, 34 ° 48 ' 21.44 "N 46 ° 27 ' 29.15 "E. — FCKG 802, 21, 35–45 mm SL, Lorestan prov.: stream below Horro bridge at Dorood- Khoramabad highway, 33 ° 31 ' 13.8 "N 48 ° 46 '19.0"E. — FCKG 806, 3, 45–70 mm SL, Lorestan prov.: stream Ab- Alashtar on road from Alashtar to Khoramabad, 33 ° 47 '09.6"N 48 ° 12 '23.0"E. — FCKG 805, 4, 38–47 mm SL, Lorestan prov.: Sezar (Marboreh) River at Dorood, 33 ° 28 ' 38.9 "N 49 °03' 59 "E. — FCKG 800, 40, 38–71 mm SL; Hamadan prov.: spring Pashow near Gian, flowing to Gamasiab River, 34 ° 13 'N 48 ° 17 'E. — FCKG 804, 1, 70 mm SL; Hamadan prov.: Gamasiab River at Baba-Rostam, 34 °07' 55.7 "N 48 ° 23 ' 55.1 "E. — FCKG 801, 21, 32–45 mm SL; Hamadan prov.: Haram-Abad River at Ashmizan, 34 °07'N 48 ° 85 ' E. — FCKG 807, 20, 32–45 mm SL; Hamadan prov.: stream seyyed Shahab, Bujin village, Asad-abad, 34 ° 48 ' 10.9 "N 48 °02' 42 "E. — FCKG 803, 2, 35–40 mm SL; Lorestan prov.: stream Kakareza at Kakareza village, 33 ° 42 ' 35.9 " N 48 ° 16 ' 38.7 "E. — FCKG not catalogued, 6, 35- 45 mm SL; Lorestan prov.: Houzian river, road Aligudarz toward Gahar lake, 33 ° 21 ' 31 "N 49 ° 44 ' 24 "E. Material used in the molecular genetic analysis. FSJF DNA- 1997; Iran: Kermanshah prov.: Sepidbarg River west of Javanrud, 34 ° 48 ' 21.44 "N 46 ° 27 ' 29.15 "E (GenBank accession numbers: KU 928261, KU 928288, KU 928289). Diagnosis. Sasanidus is not diagnosed by any unique external character state, but by a combination of characters. Sasanidus was earlier placed in the genus Oxynoemacheilus and is distinguished from all species in that genus and also from all species of Seminemacheilus by the absence of an external sexual dimorphism (vs. longer pectoral fin, nuptial tubercles on fins, head and back in male). The prominent, irregularly shaped midlateral stripe, being characteristic for S. kermanshahensis, is rarely found in species of Oxynoemacheilus, but present in a few species (O. angorae, O. phoxinoides). Not all individuals of S. kermanshahensis show the characteristic midlateral stripe, which is often restricted to the caudal peduncle, and some have a mottled or marbled colour pattern (Fig. 2). Sasanidus is also distinguished from Seminemacheilus by having one epural bone in the caudal skeleton (vs. absent). Sasanidus is distinguished from Paracobitis by the absence of a dorsal adipose crest (vs. presence), the absence of a dark brown or black bar or blotch at the caudal-fin base (vs. presence) and the presence of a prominent whitish or yellowish triangular patch on the posteriormost upper and lower caudal peduncle (vs. absence). Sasanidus is distinguished from Turcinoemacheilus by having the pelvic-fin origin clearly behind a vertical of the dorsal-fin origin (vs. pelvic-fin origin in front of a vertical of the dorsal-fin origin) and the anus situated about one eye diameter in front of the anal-fin origin (vs. more than two eye diameters). Sasanidus is distinguished from Paraschistura by lacking the black jet spot at the dorsal-fin origin (vs. presence), having a marbled colour pattern with a prominent, irregularly shaped midlateral stripe (vs. lateral bars often dissociated into irregularly shaped blotches or faded on flank in front of the dorsal-fin origin) and a slightly emarginate caudal fin (vs. deeply emarginate or forked), no dark brown or black bar or blotch at caudal-fin base (vs. presence) and prominent whitish or yellowish triangular patch on the posteriormost upper and lower caudal peduncle (vs. absence). Etymology. The genus is named for the Sassanid Empire, which was recognized as one of the leading regional powers for a period of more than 400 years. During Late Antiquity, the Sasanian Empire is considered to have been one of Iran's most important and influential historical periods. Gender masculine. Distribution. Sasanidus kermanshahensis is known from headwaters of the Karkheh and Dez Rivers. The Dez is a tributary to the Karun and both the Karkheh and Karun flowi from the Iranian Zagros Mountains westwards into the lowermost Tigris (Abdoli 2000). Included species. Monotypic. Discussion. The COI barcode sequences analysed here and the very limited species coverage of the speciesrich family Nemacheilidae do not allow strong phylogenetic conclusions to be made from the dataset presented in this study. Therefore, we do not speculate on the relationships of the different genera of nemacheilid loaches included in this study. The holotype of Sasanidus kermanshahensis was illustrated by Bănărescu & Nalbant (1966: 152) and the species can be immediately identified by its body shape and colour pattern. The osteology of Sasanidus has recently been described by Mafakheri et al. (2015) and osteological characters mentioned below were examined by us based on our own materials. Sasanidus belong to a group of nemacheilid genera distinguished by the absence of the preethmoid I in the ethmoid region of the skull. Other genera in this group are Acanthocobitis, Afronemacheilus, Dzihunia, Indoreonectes, Iskandaria, Mesonoemacheilus, Nemacheilus, Oxynoemacheilus, Paracobitis, Paraschistura, Schistura, Seminemacheilus and Troglocobitis (Prokofiev 2009). It remains unclear, if this group of genera forms a monophyletic group of related species. Afronemacheilus occurs in East Africa, Troglocobitis, Dzihunia and Iskandaria are found in the Aral Sea basin in Central Asia. Sasanidus is distinguished from Afronemacheilus by having a single epural bone in the caudal skeleton (vs. absent). It is distinguished from Troglocobitis by having a bony swim-bladder capsule (vs. absent) and from Dzihunia by having simple lip structures (vs. lower lip with pillow-like elements interrupted by deep folds) and a smooth skin (vs. with small, spine-like epidermal tubercles). Sasanidus is distinguished from Iskandaria by having the body fully covered by scales (vs. no scales), a deep body and caudal peduncle (vs. very slender and shallow) and no muscular, swollen cheeks in males (vs. present). There are few studies about the genera of nemacheilid loaches of the Middle East (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1995; Kottelat 1990; Prokofiev 2009) and there are also few studies presenting molecular data on nemacheilid loaches of that area (Esmaeili et al. 2014; Freyhof et al. 2014; Freyhof et al. 2015). There is no comprehensive molecular study on the nemacheilid loaches of India or South-East Asia. Here, we bring all known genera of nemacheilid loaches from the Middle East together in one molecular dataset for the first time. Furthermore, we were able to add COI sequence data from representatives of all genera of nemacheilid loaches recognised as valid from western India and Pakistan by Kottelat (2012). However, a phylogenetic study cannot be based solely on the molecular method applied here, because the resolution of this single mitochondrial marker is insufficient to reliably resolve the relationships between the different genera studied. DNA barcode data do not offer a phylogenetic signal sufficiently strong to resolve evolutionary relationships at higher taxonomic levels (Hajibabaei et al. 2006), which is clearly reflected in the low bootstrap support values of the inner nodes (Fig. 1). Although analysed by phylogenetic-tree reconstruction methods, barcode-based trees should therefore not be interpreted as phylogenetic trees (Hajibabaei et al. 2007). The method is well-suited to assign specimens to species, supported by high bootstrap values of nodes towards the tips, and mark conspicuous populations or taxa. In our study, a ML tree helped to identify Sasanidus as candidate taxon for a more comprehensive investigation, and aided with taxonomic sampling, putting the mitochondrial lineage of these fishes into a broader phylogenetic and biogeographic context. Taking all concerns into consideration, our data does not even place Sasanidus close to one of the genera described from the Middle East or India, supporting the hypothesis that it represents a distinct genus of its own. However, we do not exclude that other species of Sasanidus might occur in Pakistan or India, where they might currently be identified as species of Schistura. Nevertheless, none of the species described by Mirza et al. (1981) from Pakistan and by Menon (1987) from India are even superficially similar to Sasanidus. It is well known that Schistura is a polyphyletic assemblage of species (Bănărescu & Nalbant 1995; Kottelat 1990; Prokofiev 2009; Kottelat 2012). To exclude the possibility that Sasanidus is a member of Schistura, we examined two syntypes of S. rupecula, the type species of Schistura. Schistura rupecula was described from the city of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India (McClelland 1838). The stream in Shimla is highly polluted today and no loaches could be found (Nikhil Sood, Bangalore; Rajeev Raghavan, Cochin, pers. comm.). The stream flowing through Shimla is a headwater stream of the Aasan River, which flows to the Giri River, itself being a tributary to the Ganges. We include here one DNA sequence of a loach from the lowermost Aasan River from our own material, just at the confluence with the Giri River. We compared the series (FSJF 3514; Fig. 4) to which this individual belongs, with the description and figure by McClelland (1838: 948), two syntypes of S. rupecula (SMF 8993; Fig. 6) and an illustration of a possible syntype of S. montana (BMNH 1860.3.19.118), a second species described from Shimla by McClelland (1838: 948). All these loaches have 5 ½ branched anal-fin rays, 8 + 8 branched caudal-fin rays, bars on the flank and a moderately deep emarginate caudal fin. Despite being geographically very close to the type locality of S. rupecula and S. montana, the fishes from Aasan River could not definitively be identified as one of these two species and are referred to as Schistura sp. here. In addition to one DNA sequence of Schistura sp. from the Aasan River, we included the COI sequence data of three Schistura spp. From the same area and 26 sequences of fishes identified as belonging to the genus ‘ Schistura ’ from NCBI GenBank (Table 1). We sequenced four additional ‘ Schistura ’ semiarmata and 11 individuals of four unidentified species of ‘ Schistura ’ from the Western Ghats that form a separate evolutionary lineage (Fig. 7). The various loaches tentatively placed in the genus Schistura and analysed in this study are not closely related and their clustering implies that several undescribed genera might be involved. Importantly, none of the mitochondrial lineages designated as ‘ Schistura ’ in Figure 7 are closely related to Sasanidus. Future studies on the diversity of loaches in Pakistan and India are encouraged to resolve their generic structure and the biogeographic relationships.

Key to genera of Nemacheilidae in the Middle East 1 a -Dorsal-fin origin clearly behind vertical of pelvic-fin origin; anus situated more than two eye diameters in front of anal-fin origin................................................................................. Turcinoemacheilus 1 b -Dorsal-fin origin in front, above or slightly behind vertical of pelvic-fin origin; anus situated about one eye diameter or less in front of anal-fin origin.................................................................................. 2 2 a -Pectoral fin in male remarkably longer than in female; male with many small nuptial tubercles on head, especially on cheek and on upper pectoral fin................................................................................ 3 2 a -Pectoral fin in male not longer than in female; male without small nuptial tubercles on head or on pectoral fin........... 4 3 a -Suborbital flap or groove always absent in male; caudal fin very slightly emarginate or truncate; pectoral fin in male reaching beyond pelvic-fin origin when adpressed; epural bone in caudal skeleton absent....................... Seminemacheilus 3 b -Suborbital flap or groove present or absent in male; caudal fin deeply emarginate or truncate; if suborbital flap or groove absent and caudal fin slightly emarginate or truncate, then pectoral fin in male not reaching beyond pelvic-fin origin when adpressed; epural bone in caudal skeleton present............................................... Oxynoemacheilus 4 a -A prominent dorsal adipose crest on caudal peduncle, not supported by procurrent caudal-fin rays; flank marbled or mottled or with an irregularly shaped midlateral stripe......................................................... Paracobitis 4 b -No dorsal adipose crest on caudal peduncle, or, if dorsal adipose crest present, supported by procurrent caudal-fin rays and caudal peduncle usually with regularly shaped bars........................................................... 5 5 a -Colour pattern on flank with regularly- or irregularly-set bars, often dissociated into irregularly-shaped blotches, especially on flank in front of dorsal-fin origin; most species with prominent black spot at base of unbranched dorsal-fin rays and on first and sometimes second branched rays; a dark-brown or black bar or 1���2 black blotches at caudal-fin base; no whitish or yellowish triangular patch on posteriormost upper and lower caudal peduncle; caudal fin deeply emarginate or forked.... Paraschistura 5 b -Colour pattern on flank with a marbled or mottled pattern, usually with a dark brown or grey, irregularly shaped, midlateral stripe, often restricted to caudal peduncle; no prominent black spot at base of unbranched dorsal-fin rays or on first or second branched rays; no dark-brown or black bar or blotch at caudal-fin base; a prominent whitish or yellowish triangular patch on posteriormost upper and lower caudal peduncle; caudal fin slightly emarginate.............................. Sasanidus, Published as part of Freyhof, J��rg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash & Patimar, Rahman, 2016, Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis B��n��rescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae), pp. 65-80 in Zootaxa 4107 (1) on page 70, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/271350

Freyhof, Jörg, Geiger, Matthias F., Golzarianpour, Kiavash, Patimar, Rahman (2016): Sasanidus, a new generic name for Noemacheilus kermanshahensis Bănărescu & Nalbant, with discussion of Ilamnemacheilus and Schistura (Teleostei; Nemacheilidae). Zootaxa 4107 (1): 65-80, DOI: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4107.1.3

Paracanthocobitis sp.: FSJF DNA- 2550; India: Karnataka: stream in Bhagamandala fields, Cauvery River drainage, 12 ° 22 ' 23 "N 75 ° 36 ' 21 "E (GenBank accession number: KU 928287).