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Mudskippers are amphibious gobies (Teleostei: Gobioidei, Oxudercinae) that have served as models for the specialised physiology and behaviour of fishes out of water. In this study, a comparative analysis of the posterior vertebral column and the caudal skeleton of ten mudskipper species was conducted on the basis of X‐ray imaging. The species considered were Apocryptes bato, Apocryptodon madurensis, Boleophthalmus dussumieri, Oxuderces dentatus, Periophthalmodon freycineti, Pn. schlosseri, Periophthalmus novemradiatus, Ps. waltoni, Pseudapocryptes borneensis, and Scartelaos tenuis. For the osteological description the new term 'modified caudal vertebra' is used for all those vertebrae that display visibly modified neural and/or haemal spines compared to the spines of a 'usual' caudal vertebra, but are not involved in the support of caudal rays. The results reveal that the most terrestrial forms (Pn. freycineti, Pn. schlosseri, Ps. novemradiatus, Ps. waltoni) possess distinct traits that are seldom found in the other species. Among these features are (a) the existence of at least two modified caudal vertebrae (also present in S. tenuis), (b) a particularly close, dovetailing association between the neural spines of the preural vertebrae two and three (restricted to Ps. novemradiatus and Ps. waltoni), and (c) thickening and shortening of the ventralmost principal caudal rays (also present in B. dussumieri and S. tenuis). These findings support the idea that the posterior caudal vertebrae and caudal skeleton of the mentioned species are modified to enhance locomotion on land. Moreover, a relationship between character development and degree of terrestrial adaptation is probable, as all three traits are most pronounced in Ps. waltoni, which correlates with its strikingly high level of adaptation to amphibious life. A further aspect of this study is that the newly recognized skeletal structures have good fossilization potential and could therefore facilitate recognition of fossil species of mudskippers, which are currently unknown.

Among the species of Aphanius Nardo, 1827, Aphanius dispar (Ruppell, 1828) is the most common taxon and has long been viewed as representing a species group rather than a single species. This study provides comprehensive data on the phylogenetic relationships, morphology, and otoliths within the A. dispar species group, including the description of a new species. Our data demonstrate that the "true" A. dispar is restricted to the Red Sea drainages and that all other populations hitherto identified as A. dispar actually represent separate species. Four main clades are defined and named for the geographic areas in which the respective species of Aphanius occur. The oldest one is the "Red Sea clade," it comprises A. dispar. The "Dead Sea clade" is represented by A. richardsoni (Boulenger, 1907). It is sister to both the "Hormuzgan clade" in S Iran (containing A. hormuzensis sp. nov. and A. ginaonis (Holly, 1929)) and the "Persian Gulf & Gulf of Oman clade" (comprising A. stoliczkanus (Day, 1872)). The species separation within the A. dispar group is confirmed by the distinctive otolith morphology of each species. Moreover, we present a time-calibrated phylogeny (chronogram) for the A. dispar species group using dagger A. princeps (16-17 Mya) as a minimum age and the first appearance of dagger Prolebias (33-34 Mya) as a maximum age for the genus Aphanius. The evolution and historical biogeography routes are discussed based on the outcome of the chronogram and in the context of the geological and climatic history of the Near East in Pliocene-Pleistocene times.

Understanding embryonic development and ontogeny of species is a crucial part of any further biology, ecology and conservation studies. The present study describes the first detailed normal embryonic development of a tooth-carp, Aphanius sophiae (Heckel, 1847), from fertilization to post-hatching. Aphanius sophiae spontaneously spawned at 24 +/- 1 degrees C. The newly laid eggs were transparent and spherical (1.45 +/- 0.20 mm). We documented developmental times at 24 +/- 1 degrees C to egg activation (0.5 hr), cleavage (3 hr), blastula (10 hr), gastrula (20 hr), neurula (24 hr), somite (28 hr), turnover (60 hr), blood circulation (70 hr) and hatching (330 hr). This study contributes to a further understanding of the embryology and the early ontogeny of A. sophiae and may help improve the culture of other threatened species of the genus Aphanius.

Presented is a phylogenetic reconstruction of mudskippers using sequences of the mitochondrial COI and cytb genes. The phylogeny combines the sequences of 12 species from GenBank with those of three species (Boleophthalmus dussumieri, Periophthalmus waltoni and Scartelaos tenuis) collected from the coastal area of the Persian Gulf and Oman (Makran) Sea and sequenced for the first time. Based on the Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, Periophthalmus forms a separate clade that is the sister lineage to a group formed by all remaining genera. The subfamilies Oxudercinae and Amblyopinae established on the basis of morphological characters have been shown to be paraphyletic and their use as taxonomic units is no longer recommended. The evolution of Periophthalmus waltoni, Periophthalmus barbarous and Boleophthalmus dussumieri is discussed based on molecular phylogenetic reconstruction.

Summary Length–weight parameters were estimated for 37 freshwater fish species of Iran belonging to seven families. Significant length–weight relationships with high correlation coefficients were found for all species.

Length weight relationships (LWRs) were estimated for three gobiid species, Bathygobius meggitti(Hora & Mukerji, 1936), Acentrogobius dayi Koumans, 1941 and Cryptocentroides arabicus(Gmelin, 1789) (Perciformes: Gobiidae) collected from 13 localities of the Iranian intertidal coast of the Persian Gulf and Makran Sea in seven times from November 2015 to September 2017 using a hand net with mesh size 1.30 mm. The b values showed significant differences between males and females of all species except the C. arabicus. Bailey's t test revealed that b value significantly deviated from the expected cube value of 3 in three species.

Morphologically similar populations of Aphanius that are currently considered as A. sophiae inhabit the endorheic Kor River Basin in the Zagros Mountains. Using genetic analysis based on mtDNA (cytochrome b), combined with examination of morphology (morphometry, meristics, otoliths), we discovered that what is thought to be A. sophiae is actually two distinct species, one of which is described as A. shirini sp. n. The males of the new species can be distinguished from those of all other Iranian inland Aphanius species by having only 7–10 clearly defined white flank bars, which is the lowest number of flank bars among the Iranian inland Aphanius species. Both males and females differ from all other Iranian inland Aphanius species by having a significantly longer caudal peduncle and a smaller dorsal fin depth. Based on the PhyML and Bayesian likelihood trees, A. shirini is sister to A. vladykovi from the Karoun Basin in the Zagros Mountains. Our results indicate that an ancient exorheic Kor River Basin existed in the Late Miocene and Pliocene. The close phylogenetic relationship between A. shirini and A. vladykovi suggests that the pre-Pliocene drainage in the ancient Kor River Basin was directed to the north-west (to the Karoun Basin), and not to the south-east as in the present-day Kor Basin. Both A. shirini and A. vladykovi represent the highest altitude records for Aphanius. We conclude that the splits of A. shirini and A. vladykovi can be linked to tectonic events in the Middle to Late Miocene, which created the highest altitudes (>3000 m) in the Zagros Mountains, and led to isolation of populations. The present-day endorheic Kor Basin is known to have formed in the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene, and the ‘young’ age of A. sophiae is clearly related to this history. Our results contribute to elucidate the link between geological history and the present-day species diversity in the tectonically still active Zagros Mountains of Iran.

The Arabian cyprinodontid Aphanius dispar (Ruppell, 1829) is known to show considerable morphological variation. It has remained unknown, however, whether this variation is a result of environmental differences or allopatric divergence owing to geographical isolation. In this study, 11 populations of A. dispar from three geographically separated basins were analysed, that is, the Makran Basin (I, one river system), the Hormuzgan Basin (II, five rivers and three hot springs) and the Helleh Basin (III, two hot springs) in southern Iran. Statistical analyses do not indicate significant differences between the fishes from river and hot spring habitats (T-test, p

Summary Length–weight parameters were estimated for nine nemacheilid fish of the genus Paraschistura from Iran. Significant length–weight relationships with high correlation coefficients were found for all studied species.

Summary Length–weight parameters are presented for four endemic tooth-carps of the genus Aphanius from Iran.

Summary Length-weight relationships of Turcinoemacheilus kosswigi, based on 56 individuals from two newly discovered localities in the Iranian Tigris drainage, are reported for the first time. These new localities have the same structural characters as already-reported habitats, but the species was found in much higher altitudes than before.

Summary Length–weight relationships were estimated for 24 freshwater fish species of Iran. Significant length–weight relationships with high correlation coefficient were found for all species. The value of the parameter b varied between 2.881 and 3.545.