Abstract
The distribution of the Persian bleak, Alburnus hohenackeri Kessler, 1870 in Iran is described. During a survey from 2009 to 2012, we captured 30 specimens of A. hohenackeri from Choghakhor Wetland in Tigris River basin and Kardeh Dam in Harirud River basin of Iran. This is the first report of the occurrence of this species in these localities. The main distribution range in Iran is the southern part of the Caspian Sea from where it has been translocated to the other Iranian basins along with exotic Chinese carps.
Highlights
The Persian bleak, Alburnus hohenackeri Kessler, 1870 is diagnosed from other congeners or from other Alburnus species in Iran by the following characters: origin of the anal fin below 4th-5th branched dorsal rays; lateral line scales 3843 + 3; anal fin branched rays 11-161⁄2; gill rakers 16-25; ventral keel exposed, partly or completely scaled; body deep, depth 25-32% of standard length, markedly laterally compressed; caudal peduncle depth 1.7-2.1 times in its length (Kottelat and Freyhof 2007)
The overall color in life specimens of A. hohenackeri specimens is bright silver with the posterior scale margins grey on the upper flank
Alburnus hohenackeri occurs in the Iranian Caspian Sea basin and is very likely to have been imported from this area to Choghokhor Wetland and Kardeh Dam along with commercial fish species such as Cyprinus carpio, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, H. nobilis and Ctenopharyngodon idella
Summary
The Persian bleak (the morvarid mahi, meaning pearl fish), Alburnus hohenackeri Kessler, 1870 is diagnosed from other congeners or from other Alburnus species in Iran by the following characters: origin of the anal fin below 4th-5th branched dorsal rays; lateral line scales 3843 + 3; anal fin branched rays 11-161⁄2; gill rakers 16-25; ventral keel exposed, partly or completely scaled; body deep, depth 25-32% of standard length, markedly laterally compressed; caudal peduncle depth 1.7-2.1 times in its length (Kottelat and Freyhof 2007). This taxon in Iran was formerly included within the wide-ranging species, Alburnus alburnus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Esmaeili et al 2010a; Coad 2012).
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