Taxonomic status of the genus Cobitis Linnaeus, 1758 (Teleostei: Cobitidae) in the southern Caspian Sea basin, Iran with description of a new species

Abstract

Members of the genus Cobitis in the southern Caspian Sea basin of Iran are found from the Atrak to Aras Rivers. Two species, namely
C. keyvani and C. faridpaki had been already described from this distribution range. However, previous study revealed that C. keyvani is
a junior synonym of C. faridpaki, therefore populations of the eastern part of the Sefid River are C. faridpaki and those of the western part of this basin represent an undescribed species misidentified as C. keyvani in previous studies. Here we describe and compare it with other species of this genus from Iran based on morphological and molecular (COI barcode region) characters.