A further distribution record of the genus Cobitis (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes: Cobitidae) in Iranian inland waters with a note on its zoogeographic importance in the Urmia Lake basin

Abstract

This study reports the presence of the genus Cobitis in the Zarrineh River, Urmia Lake basin, Iran. Its taxonomy is clarified and zoogeography of Urmia basin is discussed. This study provides morphological characteristics, mtDNA COI barcode sequences of the collected Cobitis specimens and analyses phylogenetic relation within the members of this genus in Iran. The results revealed that morphometric and molecular (COI) characters of the collected Cobitis specimens are largely overlapping or completely identical with those of Cobitis saniae Eagderi, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Jalili, Sayyadzadeh et Esmaeili 2017. Sequences of Cobitis saniae from the Urmia Lake Basin clustered with published sequences of C. saniae showing a K2P genetic distance of 0.76% to the population from the Caspian Sea basin. This record shows a range extension of this species toward the western part of Iran. Based on first record of C. saniae from the Zarrineh River, the ichthyofauna of the Urmia Lake basin includes 30 species. The presence of C. saniae in Urmia Lake basins reveals the past connection of this basin with the Caspian Sea basin.