Iranocichla hormuzensis Coad, 1982

Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash, Ghanavi, Hamid Reza & Doadrio, Ignacio, 2020, Fig. 4 in Fig. 4 in Fig. 3 in Fig. 21. Sesarmops mora n in Paralbunea dayriti, Zoological Studies 59 (21), pp. 1-303 : 253-254

Iranocichla hormuzensis Coad, 1982 – Endemic

( Fig. 466)

Iranocichla hormuzensis Coad [B. W.] 1982: 29; Type locality: Mehran River, Hormozdgan Province, southern Iran, 27°04'N, 54°35'E. Holotype: NMC 79–0408A. Paratypes: BMNH 1981.1.12.1–2 (2); CAS 47324 (2); NMC 79–0139 (35), 79– 0408B (15); MNHN 1981–0107 to 0108 (2); ROM 36839 (1); UBC 81–1 (1).

Iranocichla persa Esmaeili [H. R.], Sayyadzadeh [G.] & Seehausen [O.] 2016: 144; Type locality: Hormugzan province, Shur River approx. 30 km east of Bandar Abbas, Iran, 27°17'40.10"N, 56°29'15.68"E. Holotype: ZM-CBSU IP66. Paratypes: FSJF, ZM-CBSU.

Common name: Pr: Cichlid-e Hormuz, En: Hormuz cichlid.

Diagnosis: Lower pharyngeal bone with circular dental. Scales scatter on cheek, operculum, belly, isthmus and area between pectoral and pelvic fin bases. Scales cycloid, with granular posterior circuli bearing rounded or irregular protuberances and single nostril opening on each side of the head.

Meristic characters: D: XVI–XIV 9–11, A: VI–IX 11–12, P: 11–12, V: 5, LS: 17–29, TV: 28–30.

Distribution: Hormuz and Makran basin ( Fig. 467). Found in Mehran, Rudan, Khorgu and Shur Rivers.

Taxonomy: According to Esmaeili et al. (2016a) I. persa is distinguished from I. hormuzensis by differences between body colors such as: nuptial males color, developed or invisible Tilapia-mark in the dorsal fin and wavy bars or stripes on the caudal fin. We examined topotypes from the type locality of both nominal species, but we cannot find any diagnostic morphological characters differentiating them. Also, I. persa is distinguished from populations of I. hormuzensis with less than 0.2–0.4% genetic distance (1 to 3 nucleotide substitution) in the COI barcode region from type localities. In our opinion the coloration pattern alone is not a good key character to describe a new species, especially in cases where the genetic distance is so small. Therefore, we treat I. persa as synonym of I. hormuzensis .

Conservation: IUCN: Not Evaluated, PC: Near Threatened B2b(i,ii,iii).

This species is endemic to Makran and Hormoz. It meets the area requirements under criterion B for Endangered and it is known from few localities which are highly affected by the drought. However, continuing declines or extreme fluctuations in EOO, AOO, habitat quality or population size are possible but uncertain. The effects of drought on this species are unknown, so we classified it as Near Threatened B2b(i,ii,iii).