Aphaniops stoliczkanus ( Day, 1872 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 30-31

Aphaniops stoliczkanus ( Day, 1872) [N]—Killifish

Taxonomy. Original description: Cyprinodon stoliczkanus Day, 1872: 258 [Stream at the village Joorun and along edge of the Rann River, Lodai, India, 22°30’N, 69°20’E; Stream at the village Joorun and along edge of the Rann River, Lodai, India, 22°30’N, 69°20’E].— Iraq synonyms: Aphanius stoliczkanus ( Day, 1872) .— Revisions: Charmpila et al. (2020: 2); Esmaeili et al. (2020).—Illustration: Kärst et al. (2020: 115, figs.); Esmaeili et al. (2022b: 450, fig. 50).

Status in Iraq. First record from Iraq by Unknown introduction; confirmed by Freyhof et al. (2021a).—Iraq materials: Fish Collection of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq; Fish collection at the Marine Science Centre, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Oman and Persian Gulf.—General distribution: Middle East, South Asia: Oman and Persian Gulf east to Pakistan and Gujarat ( India).—Habitat: This species lives in euyhyaline, inshore habitats with dense structures of vegetation or stones. Also common in coral reefs in the Red Sea and widely distributed in the lower parts of rivers, streams, and all kinds of inland water bodies, especially if these have brackish waters. They can also be found in freshwater environments. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Has potential to be used as aquarium fish.

Conservation. Conservation status in Iraq: Unknown.—IUCN: NE (2023).—Threats: Unknown.—High sensitivity to human activities.—Keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—High priority for conservation action.