As presently recognized, the genus Capoeta includes 24 species, nine of which are known to occur in Iran (Capoeta aculeata, Capoeta capoeta, Capoeta buhsei, Capoeta damascina, Capoeta fusca, Capoeta heratensis, Capoeta mandica, Capoeta saadii and Capoeta trutta) and are distributed in almost all Iranian basins except Sistan and Mashkid. Capoeta coadisp. n. is a new species from the Karun River,...

A new species of algae-scraping cyprinid of the genus Capoeta Valenciennes, 1842 is described from the Kheyroud River, located in the southern part of the Caspian Sea basin in Iran. The species differs from other members of this genus by a combination of the following characters: one pair of barbels; predorsal length equal to postdorsal length; maxillary barbel slightly smaller than eye's horiz...

Capoeta damascina was earlier considered by many authors as one of the most common freshwater fish species found throughout the Levant, Mesopotamia, Turkey, and Iran. However, owing to a high variation in morphological characters among and within its various populations, 17 nominal species were described, several of which were regarded as valid by subsequent revising authors. Capoeta damascina ...

In a parasitic survey of the native and introduced fishes in the Zayandehrud River, 5 Myxobolus spp. were found in the gills, fins and skin of examined fish specimens. They include M. varicorhini from fin and M. samgoricus from skin of Capoeta damascina, M. musajevi from gills of Capoeta capoeta gracilis, Myxobolus cristatus from Capoeta aculeata, and M. saidovi from Alburnus sp. Data on the lo...

In a parasitic survey of the native and introduced fishes in the Zayandehrud River, 5 Myxobolus spp. were found in the gills, fins and skin of examined fish specimens. They include M. varicorhini from fin and M. samgoricus from skin of Capoeta damascina, M. musajevi from gills of Capoeta capoeta gracilis, Myxobolus cristatus from Capoeta aculeata, and M. saidovi from Alburnus sp. Data on the lo...

Histopathological changes in gills of a native fish Capoeta aculeata, naturally-infected with parasites were studied. The specimens (15.5 to 22.8 cm) were collected from Choghakhor lagoon in West Iran. 35 (11%) of the total 318 studied fishes were infected with gill parasites. Overall, six protozoan and metazoan parasite species were collected from fishes including Ichthyophthirius multifiliis,...

The Middle East contains a great diversity of Capoeta species, but their taxonomy remains poorly described. We used mitochondrial history to examine diversity of the algae-scraping cyprinid Capoeta in Iran, applying the species-delimiting approaches General Mixed Yule-Coalescent (GMYC) and Poisson Tree Process (PTP) as well as haplotype network analyses. Using the BEAST program, we also examine...

In the present investigation, co-invasion of Lernaea parasite is reported in some fish species, collected from the Kor River Basin (Dorudzan Reservoir and Kor River), Southwest of Iran in 2010 and 2011.  Lernaea cyprinacea parasites were isolated from the external surface of eye, lips, gills, nostrils, fins, operculum and body of Alburnus mossulensis, Capoeta aculeata, Capoeta saadii (all nativ...

Traditionally, Capoeta populations from the southern Caspian Sea basin have been considered as Capoeta capoeta gracilis. Study on the phylogenetic relationship of Capoeta species using mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences show that Capoeta population from the southern Caspian Sea basin is distinct species and receive well support (posterior probability of 100%). Based on the tree topologie...