Iranocichla persa, Esmaeili, Sayyadzadeh & Seehausen, 2016

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 788-789

Iranocichla persa

Common name. Eastern pearl cichlid.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Cichlidae in West Asia by: ● lower part of head and chest in nuptial male orange / ○ black blotch on last spinous part of dorsal pale-grey or invisible / ○ white spots forming wavy bars or stripes on caudal / ○ no scales on chest, belly and isthmus in front of pelvic origin / ○ nuptial male dark-grey or black with many white spots or short vermiculation on flank / ○ 3 anal spines / ○ scales cycloid. Size up to 120 mm SL.

Distribution. Iran: Kol, Shur, Hasan Langi, and Minab drainages.

Habitat. Freshwater to hypersaline streams, often forming isolated pools in summer. Water temperatures range from 15 to 33°C in winter (November–March) to 40°C in summer.

Biology. Maternal mouthbrooders without permanent pair-bonding. Spawns in spring. Nuptial males occupy a territory with a nest in center. Nests are shallow pits about one body length in diameter. Females form shoals in deeper

Iranocichla persa waiting for food in an eutrophicated pool in Iran.

water. Nuptial females approach nests to spawn. Female spawn with territorial males, and sneaking appears to be common. After fertilisation in nest, females take eggs in mouths and return to school. Up to 153 offspring recorded in one mouth, ranging in length from 9.6 to 10.9 mm SL (from a female of 117 mm SL). Feeds on diatoms and other algae scraped from rocks and sediments.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Molecular data suggest that all Iranocichla populations are closely related. The two Iranocichla species form only slightly distinct clades, diagnosable by several fixed mutations in ND2, D-loop, and very small differences in cytochrome oxidase 1 sequences. Fish from the Kol drainage, the largest Iranocichla population between the Mehran and Shur drainages, agree with I. hormuzensis in their male nuptial colour but cluster with I. persa in their mitochondrial sequence characters.

Further reading. Esmaeili et al. 2016b (description); Schwarzer et al. 2016 (phylogeny).

Taiwanese red tilapia O. niloticus x O. mossambicus ; Wadi Fania, Oman ; male, 145 mm SL.