title: Iranocichla persa, a new cichlid species from southern Iran (Teleostei, Cichlidae).
abstract: Iranocichla persasp. n.is described from the Shur, Hasanlangi and Minab River drainages flowing into the Persian Gulf at the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. It is distinguished fromIranocichla hormuzensis, from the Mehran River drainage, by nuptial males having a bright orange breast and lower part of the head (vs. black), a poorly developed or invisible (vs. distinctive) "Tilapia-mark" in the dorsal fin and very clear white spots making almost wavy bars or stripes on the caudal fin (vs. without or with very few white spots). Mitochondrial DNA sequence characters suggest that bothIranocichlaspecies are closely related but form two distinct clades, diagnosable by several fixed mutations in ND2, D-loop and partially by COI sequences. Populations from Kol River drainage, which is situated in-between the Mehran and the Shur River drainages, are more similar toIranocichla hormuzensisin terms of their male nuptial coloration but toIranocichla persasp. n.in their mitochondrial sequence characters. Their status requires further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Ichthyology and Molecular Systematics Lab., Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.affiliation: Ichthyology and Molecular Systematics Lab., Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Golnaz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sayyadzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Fish Ecology & Evolution, EAWAG Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, 6047 Kastanienbaum, & Division of Aquatic Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Seehausen
keywords: Barcode region; Middle East; Persian Gulf; inland fish