Oxynoemacheilus hanae

Common name. Sirvan two-spot loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Tigris drainage by: ○ flank with a distinct series of midlateral blotches, fused to each other or fused into a stripe / ○ isolated patches of blotches or a row of small dark-brown spots below lateral series of blotches / ○ two distinct and prominent black blotches at posteriormost caudal base, usually overlaid by a dark-brown or black chevron-shaped bar / ○ suborbital groove present in male / ○ no or a very short median incision in upper lip / ○ lateral line complete, terminating behind vertical of anal base or at caudal base / ○ flank completely covered by scales / ○ caudal deeply emarginate or forked. Size up to 61 mm SL.

Distribution . Iran and Iraq: Headwaters of Sirvan and Alvand drainages.

Habitat. Moderately fast-flowing streams and springs with gravel substrate.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. VU; appears to be declining within its small range.

Remarks. The Iranian population is superficially very similar, but their COI sequence data place them close to O. marunensis . They may represent O. hanae, introgressed by O. marunensis . In the upper Sirvan, O. hanae and O. marunensis occur in syntopy.

Further reading. Freyhof & Abdullah 2017 (description); Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. 2020 (record from Iran).