Glyptothorax kurdistanicus ( Berg, 1931 )

Jokar, Milad, Kamangar, Barzan Bahrami, Ghaderi, Edris & Freyhof, Jörg, 2023, Glyptothorax sardashtensis, a new species of torrent catfish from the upper Lesser Zab drainage in Iran (Teleostei: Sisoridae), Zootaxa 5254 (4), pp. 476-492 : 480-481

Glyptothorax kurdistanicus ( Berg, 1931)

( Fig. 2–4 )

Glyptosternum kurdistanicum Berg, 1931:1267

Material examined. FCFUK 330 , 1, 108 mm SL ; FCFUK 333 , 1 , 52 mm SL ; FCFUK 334 , 1 , 48 mm SL ; FCFUK 336 , 1 , 43 mm SL ; FCFUK 337 , 1 , 43 mm ; FCFUK 338 , 1 , 41 mm SL; Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: Lesser Zab at bridge east of Nalas , 36.2688 45.5012 .— FCFUK 331 , 1 , 69 mm SL ; FCFUK 332 , 1 , 67 mm SL ; FCFUK 335 , 1 , 47 mm SL; Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: Lesser Zab at Nisk-Abad (now dawned in a reservoir), 36.1369 45.5510 .— FSJF 3652 , 4 , 49–77 mm SL; Iraq: Aw-e Shiler at Khewata , 35.7509 45.4797 .— ZIN 20780 , holotype, 113 mm SL; Iran: Kurdistan, at the village Germau (or Germav ) (photographs only) .

Material used in osteological study: FCFUK 333 , 1 , 52 mm SL ; FCFUK 338 , 1 , 41 mm SL; Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: Lesser Zab at bridge east of Nalas , 36.2688 45.5012 .

New material used in molecular genetic analysis. FCFUK 331 , 1 , 69 mm SL (GenBank accession number: OQ073428 ) ; FCFUK 332 , 1 , 67 mm SL (GenBank accession number: OQ073427 ) ; FCFUK 335 , 1 , 47 mm SL (GenBank accession number: OQ073429 ); Iran: West Azerbaijan prov.: Lesser Zab at Nisk-Abad , 36.1369 45.5510 .

Osteology. Crescent-shaped premaxillary tooth plate consisting of four bony elements: a pair of proximal elements that are medially positioned, a pair of distal elements that are laterally located, and they are all joined by connective tissue ( Fig. 5A ). Distal parts have wedge-shaped, with convex anterior margins. Proximal bones are pentagonal in shape. Inner margin of proximal is straight and linked to opposite proximal element. It has a convex anterior and a straight posterior margin. Outer side consists of anterolateral and posterolateral margins.Anterolateral margin of proximal element is located straightly along line with anterior margin of distal element. Each element has several rows of villiform teeth with somewhat recurved tips on ventral side. Nuchal plate is covered by thin skin. It is visible externally as three blotches that form a triangular shape in front of dorsal-fin origin. Anterior and middle elements are integrated and have a triangular shape ( Fig. 5C ). Anterolateral margins are straight to slightly concave, making a pointed tip in medial anterior. Medial anterior tip is long and reaches horizontally to level of ribs of sixth vertebra. This tip is slightly turned up. Posterior margin of middle element is concave and its posterolateral tips have extensive contact with posterior element. Posterior element expanded posteriorly and its tips are turned back. Dentary is formed by two robust, elongated, and curved bones, which are connected by connective tissue at midline ( Fig. 5E ). Posterior one-third is broader and its anterior two-thirds are slender and bear several rows of villiform teeth. Vomer consists of a large triangular vomerine plate and a long posterior stem ( Fig. 5G ). Vomer’s triangular plate is slightly concave in its anterolateral and is somewhat straight in its posterior margins. As a result, vomer is arrow-shaped and its tip in anteromedial is pointed.

Remarks. Berg (1931) gives the type locality “in Kurdistan, at the village Germau (or Germav), at the height of 1500 m. Germau (or Germav, Germaw) is situated in latitude 36° N southeast of Serdesht, on the western slope of the Sur-kei Range, in the basin of the river Bané, tributary to the Lesser Zab, which is tributary to the Tigris R.”. Coad (2014) stated that Germau is probably Garmab and Bané is probably Baneh. The village of Germab could not be located in gazetteers or on maps with a relevant longitude but Sar Dasht (36.1551, 45.4802) and Baneh (35.9955, 45.8874) are evident and the locality is between them and lies in the Iranian Lesser Zab catchment. However, Germaw (in Kurdish) or Garmab (in Persian) is a small village located at 35.908570 and 45.723381, 18 kilometers southwest of Baneh in Kurdistan province and 35 kilometers southeast of Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province. This village is located near the Germaw River, and after merging with the Baneh River, it forms the Choman River. The Choman, which is one of the main tributaries of the Lesser Zab, enters the Lesser Zab in Iran and flows along the border between Iran and Iraq. During our fieldwork along the Choman watershed in 2009 and 2010, we could not find any G. kurdistanicus at the type locality described by Berg (1931). However, we collected G. kurdistanicus in 2012 in the Lesser Zab River at Nisk-Abad, 29 kilometers northwest of the type locality. The morphometric characteristics of our materials are presented in Table 3 . Our morphometric measurements agree with those reported by Freyhof et al. (2021) for this species. However, we did not find so many small warts on the body of this species. Glyptothorax kurdistanicus has three yellow blotches, arranged in triangular-like shape on the nuchal plate anterior of the dorsal-fin origin. One blotch in front of the dorsal-fin origin and two on both sides of the spinlet, the lateral parts of the nuchal plate. This character has not been studied by Freyhof et al. (2021) but it allows to distinguish G. kurdistanicus from G. armeniacus (usually lacking the middle blotch), as well as from G. cous , G. silviae , G. daemon , and G. galaxias (three blotches crescent-shaped in a shaped arch).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Glyptothorax kurdistanicus, FCFUK 330, 108 mm SL; upper Lesser Zab, Iran.

FIGURE 3. Glyptothorax kurdistanicus, from left: FCFUK 330, 108 mm SL; FCFUK 333, 52 mm; SL; Lesser Zab, Iran.

FIGURE 4. Glyptothorax kurdistanicus, from left: FCFUK 332, 67 mm SL; FCFUK 335, 47 mm SL; FCFUK 337, 43 mm SL; Lesser Zab, Iran.

FIGURE 5. Premaxillary tooth plate, nuchal plate, dentary elements, and vomer plate of G. kurdistanicus (A, C, E, and G respectively), FCFUK 338, 41 mm SL, and G. sardashtensis (B, D, F, and H respectively), FCFUK 314, 38 mm SL; a and b, ventral view of premaxillary tooth plate; c and d, dorsal view of the nuchal plate; e and f, dorsal view of dentary elements; g and h, ventral view of vomer plate. Abbreviations: ppe, premaxillary proximal element; pde, premaxillary distal element; anp, anterior nuchal plate; mnp, middle nuchal plate; pnp, posterior nuchal plate; spl, spinlet; fdr, first dorsal-fin ray; vt, villiform teeth; vp, vomerine plate; ps, posterior stem.