Carasobarbus sublimus (Coad & Najafpour, 1997)

Borkenhagen, Kai & Krupp, Friedhelm, 2013, Taxonomic revision of the genus Carasobarbus Karaman, 1971 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae), ZooKeys 339, pp. 1-53 : 37-39

Carasobarbus sublimus (Coad & Najafpour, 1997)

Barbus sublimus Coad and Najafpour 1997: 274.

Material.

Type material. Holotype of Barbus sublimus : CMNFI 1995-0009, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye A‘lā near Pol-e Tīghen (31°23'30"N, 49°53'0"E), B. W. Coad et al., 20 Sep 1995, not examined.

Paratypes of Barbus sublimus : CMNFI 95-0009a, 1, same data as holotype. - CMNFI 95-0010, 1, same data as holotype, not examined. - CMNFI 95-0011, 3, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye A‘lā near Pol-e Tīghen (31°23'30"N, 49°53'0"E), G. Eskanderi, Dec 1994, only one specimen examined.

Non-type material. Rūdkhāneh-ye Kashgān. CMNFI 79-0277, 1, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye Kashgān at Harpul Kashkow, 50 km from Khorramābād (33°30'0"N, 47°59'30"E), K. Evans and H. Assadi, 5 Jul 1977.

Rūdkhāneh-ye Zohreh drainage. ZM-CBSU 5781-5786, 6, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye Fahlīān at Nūrābād [30°6'51"N, 51°31'18"E], H. R. Esmaeili et al. - SMF 33117, 3, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye Fahlīān (30°11'10"N, 51°31'14"E), K. Borkenhagen et al., 29 Nov 2007. - SMF 33118, 6, Iran, Rūdkhāneh-ye Fahlīān (30°11'9"N, 51°31'15"E), N. Alwan et al., 29 Feb 2008.

Diagnosis.

Two pairs of barbels; 27 to 29 scales in the lateral line, 12 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle; last unbranched dorsal-fin ray about as long as the head; mouth narrow, lower jaw spatulate and median lobe present on lower lip.

Description.

A nuchal hump is not developed. The maximum body depth is at the anterior end of the dorsal fin base. The ventral profile of the head is almost straight; the dorsal profile is convex and evenly curved (Figs 26, 27). The maximum body depth is greater than the head length (Fig. 12). The mouth is inferior, narrow, the lips are thick and the lower jaw is spatulate with a horny sheath and a median lobe on the lower lip. The two pairs of barbels (Table 2) are well developed. The eyes are at the posterior end of the anterior half of the head. Some morphometric characters are summarised in Table 1.

The dorsal fin usually has four unbranched and nine or 10 branched rays (Table 3). The last unbranched ray of the dorsal fin is weakly ossified and about as long as the head (Fig. 4). The anal fin usually has three unbranched and six branched rays (Table 4) and its base is surrounded by a sheath of scales. Pectoral, ventral and anal fins are longer than in all other Carasobarbus species (Table 1).

There are 27 to 29 scales in the lateral line (Table 5), 4.5 or 5.5 scales above the lateral line (Table 6), 3.5 to 5.5 scales below the lateral line (Table 7) and 12 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle (Table 8). The scales are shown in Fig. 5.

The pharyngeal teeth count is 2.3.4-5.3.2, 2.3.4-5.3.1 or 3.3.4-4.3.3 ( Coad and Najafpour 1997). The pharyngeal bones available were too small for photography but are very similar to those of Carasobarbus kosswigi (Fig. 6).

Live specimens from Rūdkhāneh-ye Fahlīān are silvery with hyaline fins (Fig. 27). Live specimens from Rūdkhāneh-ye A‘lā are silvery with a slightly darker back, the scales have dark pigments on their hind margin; pectoral, ventral and anal fins have a yellow to orange hue, which is most obvious with fins folded back; dorsal and caudal fins are grey or hyaline ( Coad and Najafpour 1997). Ethanol-preserved specimens are yellowish brown with a somewhat darker back and juveniles have a dark spot on the sides of the caudal peduncle.

Carasobarbus sublimus differs from all congeners, except Carasobarbus kosswigi , by having a spatulate lower jaw with a median lobe on the lower lip vs. a crescent shaped lower jaw and a lower lip without median lobe. It differs from Carasobarbus kosswigi by having 27 to 29 scales in the lateral line vs. 32 to 38 and modally 12 scales around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle vs. 14 and by having a shorter and less ossified unbranched last dorsal-fin ray.

Distribution.

This species is known from Rūdkhāneh-ye A‘lā, Rūdkhāneh-ye Fahlīān and possibly Rūdkhāneh-ye Kashgān (see discussion) in south-western Iran (Fig. 7).

Habitats and biology.

Carasobarbus sublimus is adapted to streams with fast currents with water flowing over hard substrate ( Coad and Najafpour 1997). The biggest specimen known has a SL of 115 mm ( Coad and Najafpour 1997).

Conservation status.

Little is known about the conservation status of Carasobarbus sublimus , but because this species is dependent on fast-flowing water, it is probably impacted by the construction of dams.

Discussion.

Carasobarbus sublimus was described in the genus Barbus and aligned with Carasobarbus apoensis , Carasobarbus canis , Carasobarbus chantrei , Carasobarbus exulatus , Carasobarbus kosswigi and Carasobarbus luteus in the original description ( Coad and Najafpour 1997). Coad recommends the use of the genus Kosswigobarbus for this species ( Coad 2011). It was transferred to Carasobarbus , based on morphological characters and close genetic relationship ( Borkenhagen et al. 2011).

Locality data for CMNFI 79-0277 is not beyond doubt, because this lot was mentioned as Carasobarbus kosswigi in the original description of Carasobarbus sublimus ( Coad and Najafpour 1997). According to morphometric and meristic characters (scales in lateral line, above lateral line and around the least circumference of the caudal peduncle; length of dorsal, pectoral, ventral and anal fin) this specimen is within the range of Carasobarbus sublimus and outside the range of Carasobarbus kosswigi . It might be an aberrant specimen or it might have been accidentally swaped with CMNFI 1995-0010 (a specimen of similar size from the same locality as the types of Carasobarbus sublimus ). We had no opportunity to examine CMNFI 1995-0010. Though we think it is unlikely that Carasobarbus kosswigi and Carasobarbus sublimus occur sympatrically, for the time being we consider it to be a possible record of Carasobarbus sublimus from the Rūdkhāneh-ye Kashgān.