 |
| Oxynoemacheilus chaboras Kaya, Kurtul, Aksu, Oral & Freyhof, 2024. |
Abstract
Oxynoemacheilus chaboras, new species, from the stream Beyazsu in the Euphrates drainage, belongs to the O. persa species group, being closely related to O. shehabi from the Orontes, O. sarus from the Seyhan and Ceyhan, O. euphraticus from the Euphrates and Tigris, O. karunensis from the Karkheh, and O. persa from Central Iran. The new species is distinguished from others in the O. persa group by having 8–9 pores in the supraorbital canal, two distinct black blotches at the caudal-fin base, a rudimentary and shallow pelvic axillary lobe, 6–10 irregularly shaped bars on the flank, and a deep head, body, and caudal peduncle. Oxynoemacheilus chaboras sp. nov. is most closely related to O. euphraticus, from which it is differentiated by a mean uncorrected p-distance of 3.24% (min. 3.09%) in its COI barcode gene.
Key Words: Cypriniformes, Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, freshwater fish, taxonomy, Western Asia
 |
| Oxynoemacheilus chaboras, FFR 15646, holotype, 53 mm SL; Türkiye: stream Beyazsu. |
 |
| Oxynoemacheilus chaboras, FFR 15633, paratype, 51 mm SL; Türkiye: stream Beyazsu. |
Oxynoemacheilus chaboras sp. nov.
Diagnosis:
Oxynoemacheilus araxensis, O. argyrogramma, Oxynoemacheilus arsaniasus Freyhof, Kaya, Turan & Geiger, 2019, Oxynoemacheilus bergianus (Derjavin, 1934), O. euphraticus, Oxynoemacheilus kaynaki Erk’akan, Özeren & Nalbant, 2008, Oxynoemacheilus muefiti Freyhof, Kaya, Turan & Geiger, 2019, Oxynoemacheilus paucilepis (Erk’akan, Nalbant & Özeren, 2007), and Oxynoemacheilus tigris (Heckel, 1843) are other species of Oxynoemacheilus known from the Euphrates drainage (Fig. 5). Oxynoemacheilus chaboras, is distinguished from these by a combination of characters, none of them unique to the species.
Oxynoemacheilus chaboras belongs to a group of species (O. argyrogramma, O. chaboras, O. euphraticus) having two bold, black, round or comma-shaped blotches on the caudal-fin base (vs. absent in Oxynoemacheilus araxensis, O. arsaniasus, ...
Etymology: The species is named Chaboras, an ancient Greek name of the Khabur (Χαβώρας), as it was first documented by Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder ichthyofauna. A noun in genitive, indeclinable.
Cüneyt Kaya, Irmak Kurtul, İsmai̇l Aksu, Münevver Oral and Jörg Freyhof. 2024. Oxynoemacheilus chaboras, A New loach Species from the Euphrates Drainage in Türkiye (Teleostei, Nemacheilidae). Zoosystematics and Evolution. 100(2): 457-468. DOI: 10.3897/zse.100.118612
