Contribution to the trout of Euphrates River, with description of a new species, and range extension of Salmo munzuricus (Salmoniformes, Salmonidae)

In an effort to reveal the Euphrates trout taxonomy, the Karasu River, which is one of the eastern drainages of the river, was investi-gated and three independent populations were identified. Result revealed that two populations belonged to Salmo munzuricus, which was known only in Munzur River, while the other population belonged to an unnamed species. Salmo baliki, a new species, is de-scribed from the Murat River, a drainage of Euphrates River. It differs from Salmo species in adjacent water by the combination of the following characters: a grayish body; commonly one, rarely two pale black spots behind eye and on cheek; two to seven black spots on opercle; a few black spots on back and upper part of flank, missing on predorsal area; few to numerous large irregular-shaped red spots in median, upper and lower part of flank, surrounded by a large irregular-shaped white ring; the number of black and red spots not increasing in parallel with size; maxilla short and narrow; adipose-fin medium size, no or rarely one or two red spot its posterior edge; 107-118 lateral line scales; 24-28 scales rows between dorsal-in origin and lateral line; 18-22 scale rows between lateral line and anal-fin origin; maxilla length 7.7-9.1% SL in males, 8.2-9.6 in females. Finally, the genetic study of the Cyt b mitochondrial gene confirmed the morphological data, suggesting the separation of S. baliki from other Salmo species.

Automated summary

Through a study of the Karasu River, it was discovered that there are three distinct populations of Euphrates trout, with two populations belonging to Salmo munzuricus and one population belonging to a newly named species, Salmo baliki. This new species has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other Salmo species in adjacent water bodies, as confirmed by genetic analysis of the Cyt b mitochondrial gene.