Oxynoemacheilus marunensis, a new loach species from the Persian Gulf basin with remarks on O. frenatus (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae).

Abstract

Oxynoemacheilus marunensis, new species, is described from the Marun, a tributary of the Jarrahi River, which flows just east of the Tigris River to the Persian Gulf. It belongs to a group of species (O. argyrogramma, O. euphraticus, O. hanae, O. karunensis, and O. kurdistanicus) having two bold, black, round, or comma-shaped black spots on the caudal-fin base. It is most similar to a newly described species from the Persian Gulf basin, O. karunensis, but distinguished from O. karunensis by having a longer distance between pelvic and anal-fin origins [22.3-23.8 vs. 19.5-22.3 (% SL)] and a K2P distance of 6% based on COI barcode region sequences.