A New Locality for the Blind Loach, Eidinemacheilus smithi (Teleostei: Nemacheilidae) in Iranian Zagros: A Morpho-Molecular Approach

Four obligate cave fish species have been recorded from Zagros in Iran: Garra typhlops (Bruun and Kaiser, 1944), G. lorestanensis (Mousavi-Sabet and Eagderi, 2016), G. tashanensis (Mousavi-Sabet, Vatandoust, Fatemi and Eagderi, 2016) and Eidinemacheilus smithi (Greenwood, 1976). So far, the only known locality of the latter has been the Loven cave. Here, we extend the known range of the Zagros blind loach (E. smithi) by reporting a new locality, the Tuveh spring, located 31 km south of Loven. We combine morphological evidence with the calculated K2P genetic divergences of 1.39% between Tuveh and Loven to confirm that these populations are conspecific. Our discovery of the second E. smithi population has implications for the conservation of this rare and vulnerable species.

Automated summary

This study reported four obligate cave fish species in Zagros, Iran, and discovered a second population of Eidinemacheilus smithi, expanding its known distribution range. By comparing morphological evidence and genetic divergences, it is confirmed that these populations are conspecific. This finding has implications for the conservation of this rare and vulnerable species.