Ponticola cyrius (Kessler 1874)

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 : 242

Ponticola cyrius (Kessler 1874) – Native

Gobius cyrius Kessler [K. F.] 1874: 273 [83]; Type locality: Kura River near Borzhomi, Georgia, Eurasia. Syntypes: ZIN 2235 (3).

Gobius weidemanni Kessler [K. F.] 1874: 275 [85]; Type locality: Transcaucasia (no other data). Syntypes: ZIN 2224 (2).

Common name: Pr: Gav mahi Kura, En: Caspian freshwater goby.

Diagnosis: Distinguished by pelvic fin with large anterior membrane, angular lateral lobes, at least 20% width of rear edge and pelvic fin less than nine-tenths distance to anal fin, the posterior nostril is near the edge of the orbit, lateral series scales usually 54–76, upper lip moderately swollen, width about 75% to more than length lateral preorbit and interorbital distance 40–80% eye diameter.

Meristic characters: D 1: VI–VIII (VI), D 2: I 15–20 (18–19), A: I 10–16 (14), P: 17–19, LS: 54–59, TV: 33–34.

Distribution: Caspian Sea basin ( Fig. 444). Reported from the southeast Caspian Sea, the southwest Caspian Sea and the south-central Caspian Sea.

Taxonomy: Berg (1949) synonymized with Neogobius cephalarges, Pinchuk (1977) with Neogobius platyrostris but Vasil’yeva and Vasil’yev (1995) regard as valid as full species.

Conservation: IUCN: Least Concern (Freyhof 2014ab).