Distribution and diversity of fish from Seyhan, Ceyhan and Orontes river systems

WOS: 000591968500002In this study, the current ichthyofauna of the Seyhan, Ceyhan and Orontes River drainages were presented and actual taxonomic positions of the species were assessed. Sixty-seven species belonging to 32 genera and 17 families of fishes were reported from these river drainages in Turkey and Syria. Acanthobrama centisquama and Tinca tinca could not be observed in the study area and Alburnus sellal and Esox luck's are recorded for the first time respectively in the Lake Crifibasi (connected to the Ceyhan River) and Seyhan Riven

Squalius semae, a new species of chub from the Euphrates River, Eastern Anatolia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

10.1080/09397140.2017.1290761Zoology in the Middle East63133-4

Taxonomic assessment and distribution of fishes in upper Kura and Aras river drainages

Kaya, Cuneyt/0000-0002-4531-798XWOS: 000540339400002In the present study, the actual fish fauna of the upper Kura and Aras river drainages in Turkey were re-examined. the distribution and latest taxonomic status of the species were assessed. the study area comprises the upper part of Kura and Aras river drainages, in Turkey. Overall, 32 sampling sites were prospected between 2004-2018 to inventory fish species in the area and a total of 33 species were recognized, five of which are recorded for the first time from the Turkish part of upper Aras river drainage, namely Alburnus hohenackeri, Blicca bjoerkna, Gobio artvinicus, Neogobius fluviatilis and Rhodeus amarus

Review of the genus Cobitis in the Middle East, with the description of eight new species (Teleostei: Cobitidae)

WOS: 000453850600001The diversity of Cobitis in the Middle East is reviewed, resulting in the recognition of 30 species, of which eight are described herein as new. Two species, C. amphilekta and C. kellei, seem to be extinct. Hypotheses on species-level diversity derived from distance and Poisson tree process analyses of DNA barcode data are tested against morphometric and morphological characters including colour patterns. For species pairs separated by small K2P distances in COI sequence data we follow a practitioner-oriented diagnostic species concept, in which we recognise species only if differentiated morphologically (including by colour pattern). For all 30 species we provide diagnoses and identification keys. Cobitis afifeae, new species, from the Buyuk Menderes River drainage in the Aegean Sea basin, is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, a row of blotches below Z4, a small, roundish or comma-shaped black spot at the upper caudal-fin base, and elevated mental lobes. Cobitis aliyeae, new species, from the lower Seyhan and Ceyhan River drainages, is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, the blotches in Z2 and Z4 anterior to the dorsal-fin origin usually well separated from each other, and the pigmentation in Z1 well distinguished from the pigmentation in Z2. Cobitis anabelae, new species, from the lower Orontes River drainage, is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, the pigmentation in Z2 formed by small, brown spots, always much smaller than blotches in Z3, much smaller than the pupil diameter, Z2 and Z3 well separated, and no pigmentation below Z4. Cobitis erkakanae, new species, from the Golbasi Lakes, adjacent to the Ceyhan River drainage, is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, no blotches below Z4, the blotches in Z2 and Z4 being horizontally elongated and often fused with adjacent ones, and the caudal fin with 4-6 wide, regularly-shaped, brown bands. Cobitis emrei, new species, from the Lake Sapanca basin is distinguished by having one lamina circularis in the male, a large black spot at the upper caudal-fin base, and Z3 fully covered by very small spots forming a sand-like pattern. Cobitis joergbohleni, new species, from the Sultan marshes in Central Anatolia is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, and the flank colour pattern being completely disorganised, not following the Gambetta zones. Cobitis pirii, new species, from the endorheic Lake Egirdir basin and the Mediterranean Aksu and Kopru Rivers, is distinguished by having two laminae circularis in the male, a simple external part of the suborbital spine and two distinct rows of small blotches in Z4, one along the lateral midline and one distinctly below. Cobitis troasensis, new species, from the Tuzla River drainage, is distinguished by having one lamina circularis in the male and 25-36 small, comma-shaped brown blotches in Z4. A lectotype is designated for Cobitis battalgilae. As First Revisers, priority is given to Cobitis fahireae over C. kurui. Cobitis damlae and C. kurui are treated as synonyms of C. fahireae. Cobitis strumicae and C. taenia are recorded for the first time from Anatolia and C. saniae is newly documented from the Black Sea basin in Georgia. the Poisson tree process analysis of COI data proposed 31 groups, most of which could be distinguished by morphological characters. Cobitis troasensis is described based on morphological data alone.Leibniz Association Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation (SAW)We thank Mufit Ozulug (Istanbul) for allowing JF to participate in his many years of fieldwork in Turkey and Fusun Erk'akan (Ankara) and Michel Bariche (AUBM) for supporting us with the picture of the type of C. damlaeand a picture of C. levantina. Soheil Eagderi (Karaj) for allowing us to use his photos of Cobitis saniae and Ekatherina Vasil'eva (Moscow) as well as Hamed Mousavi-Sabet (Guilan) for allowing us to use their photos of the holotypes of C. amphilekta and C. avicennae. Many thanks to Baran Yogurtcuoglu (Ankara), Cuneyt Kaya (Rize) and Davut Turan (Rize) for help during fieldwork. Many thanks to Fusun Erk'akan (Ankara) and Ralf Thiel and Irina Eidus (ZMH) for allowing JF to examine materials under their care and Baran Yogurtcuoglu for helping us with a picture of the holotype of C. kurui and Teodor T. Nalbant (Bucharest) for gifting JF many drawings of loaches. Samvel Pipoyan (Yerevan), Anabel Perdices (Madrid) and Hamed Mousavi-Sabet (Guilan) supported us with molecular materials. Many thanks to Erhan Unlu (Diyarbakir), Cuneyt Kaya and Baran Yogurtcuoglu for unpublished information. Amina Brahimi (Liege) is thanked for producing the distribution map (Fig. 2) for us. This study is a product of the FREDIE project, supported by the Leibniz Association Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation (SAW)

Oxynoemacheilus cemali, a new species of stone loach (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) from the Coruh River drainage, Turkey

Kalayci, Gokhan/0000-0003-1255-496X; AKSU, ISMAIL/0000-0002-2104-9888WOS: 000463960800010PubMed: 30671971Oxynoemacheilus cemali sp. nov. is described from the Coruh River drainage in the eastern Black Sea basin. One molecular marker (coI), 25 morphometric and four meristic characters were analysed. Oxynoemacheilus cemali is distinguished from O. kosswigi, O. banarescui, O. samanticus and O. angorae in the Black Sea basin by having a suborbital groove in males, an axillary lobe at the pelvic-fin base, no dorsal adipose crest on the caudal peduncle, a slightly-forked caudal fin and 7-15 dark grey dorsal saddles. Morever, Oxynoemacheilus cemali is distinguished by commonly having 9-15 irregularly-shaped dark-grey bars on the flank posterior to the dorsal-fin origin or, rarely having a mottled pattern or 4-6 irregularly shaped dark-grey bars on the flank posterior to the dorsal-fin origin. Oxynoemacheilus cemali is also distinguished from the closely related species O. araxensis and O. cyri, distributed outside the Black Sea basin, by having 15 and 31 diagnostic nucleotide substitutions in the coI barcode region, respectively.Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University [FBA-2017-726]This study was supported by the Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University (Project No: FBA-2017-726

Alburnoides coskuncelebii, a new species from the stream Buyuk Melen in north western Anatolia (Teleostei: Leuciscidae)

AKSU, ISMAIL/0000-0002-2104-9888; Bektas, Yusuf/0000-0002-8367-9746WOS: 000528489300002Alburnoides coskuncelebii, new species, is described from the Buyuk Melen River in the Southern Black Sea basin. It is distinguished from other species of Alburnoides in the Southern Black Sea basin by having the ventral keel covered with 2-5 scales between the posterior pelvic-fin base and the anus, eye diameter slightly smaller than snout length and interorbital distance, 47-54 total lateral-line scales, 9-11 scale rows between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line, 4-5 scale rows between anal-fin origin and lateral line, 131/2-151/2 branched anal-fin rays, 40-42 total vertebrae, 13-15 predorsal vertebrae, and 6-9 gill rakers. Alburnoides coskuncelebii is also distinguished from its closest relative, A. tzanevi, by having nine diagnostic nucleotide substitutions in the mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA gene.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [KBAG-113Z102]We thank to Jorg Freyhof (Berlin) for his comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and Aysegul Bayraktar (Rize) for help with radiography. We are pleased to thank Serkan Wesel (ZFMK) for helping DT to examine materials in ZFMK, and Hazel Baytasoglu (Rize) for producing the distribution map (Fig. 5) for us. We thank Charlie Parsons (England) and Dr. Utku Avci (Rize) for reading the manuscript and improving the language. This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project No: KBAG-113Z102)

Comments on the holotype of Alburnus kurui Mangit & Yerli 2018 and re-description of A. carianorum Freyhof, Kaya, Baycelebi, Geiger & Turan, 2019 (Teleostei: Leuciscidae)

WOS: 000456813300010PubMed: 30790837[No abstract available

Description of Gobio fahrettini, a new gudgeon from Lake Ilgin basin, Central Anatolia (Teleostei: Gobionidae)

AKSU, ISMAIL/0000-0002-2104-9888WOS: 000528488700006Gobio fahrettini, a new species, from the Lake Ilgin basin, is distinguished from other Gobio species in Anatolia by a combination of characters: breast covered by scales, scales extending slightly behind to isthmus; 39-42 lateral line scales; 4-6 scales between anus and anal-fin origin; 6-8 scales between posterior extremity of pelvic-fin bases and anus.Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University [2012.103.01.2]This work was supported by the Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University (Project No: 2012.103.01.2)

Redescription of Alburnus kotschyi Steindachner, 1863, with comments on Alburnus sellal adanensis Battalgazi, 1944 (Teleostei: Leuciscidae)

OZULUG, MUFIT/0000-0002-1437-3890WOS: 000425684200008PubMed: 29689934Alburnus kotschyi is re-described and a neotype is designated. It is found in a small isolated coastal stream at Arsuz at the eastern Mediterranean coast as well as in the Ceyhan and Seyhan River drainages in southern Anatolia. Alburnus adanensis, from the Seyhan River, seems not to have been found again since its first description in 1944 and might be extinct.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [KBAG215Z074]We are pleased to thank Friedhelm Krupp (SMF) and Horst Wilkens (ZMH) for the loan of material, Ralf Thiel (ZMH) for allowing JF to examine materials in ZMH and Cem Dalyan (Istanbul) for help during fieldwork. This work was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project No: KBAG215Z074)

A new species of trout from the northern drainages of Euphrates River, Turkey (Salmoniformes: Salmonidae)

Bektas, Yusuf/0000-0002-8367-9746; turan, davut/0000-0002-9586-6223WOS: 000523228500001PubMed: 32166766Salmo fahrettini, a new species, is distributed in the northern tributaries of the Euphrates River. It differs from other Salmo species in adjacent waters by a combination of the following characters: a greyish body; one black spot behind the eye and on the cheek; three to six black spots on the opercle; numerous black spots on the back (missing on the predorsal area), flank and middle part of body, surrounded by a roundish white ring; red spots in the median part of the body, surrounded by a roundish white ring; short and narrow maxilla; increase in the number of black and red spots with an increase in size; adipose fin medium size, no or rarely one red spot at its posterior edge; 109-116 lateral line scales; 27-30 scale rows between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line; 20-23 scale rows between the lateral line and anal-fin origin; maxilla length 8.8-10.0% standard length in males, 8.8-9.6 in females