Ponticola patimari sp. nov. (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae) from the southern Caspian Sea basin, Iran

Abstract

Ponticola patimari, new species, is described from the Kheirud River, southern Caspian Sea basin, Iran. It is distinguished from its congeners in Iran by having the following features: D1 VI, D2 I / 15½–18½, A I / 11½–13½; mottled bars on flanks, small scattered spots on pectoral-fin base, cycloid scales covering upper part of opercle, longer least depth of caudal peduncle, longer ventral disc, reaching corner of lip to middle of orbit, longer interorbital width / eye diameter, pelvic fin reaching to anus or even extending beyond anus, two dark brown spots under orbital and 3 fixed diagnostic nucleotide substitutions in the mtDNA COI barcode region. Ponticola patimari sp. nov. belongs to P. syrman group and it is separated by a minimum K2P distance of 3.0 and 3.4% from P. iranicus and P. syrman, respectively.