''Capoeta razii'', is a newly described

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of freshwater

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a Family (biology), family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barb (fish), barbs and barbel (fish), barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the ...

fish occurring mainly in the southern

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

basin,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

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This species was mistakenly reported by many authors as '' Capoeta gracilis'' in northern Iranian regions. It was first reported to be different from ''C. gracilis'' by Levin et al. (2012). This species is named in honour of Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī, a Persian polymath, physician, alchemist, and philosopher, for his important contributions in the history of medicine. He also discovered numerous compounds including

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

Coloration

In life the upper part of the body is golden brown, olive-green, or silver, and the belly is whitish up to the lateral line. The head is dark-brown or olive-green on top and the cheeks are pale brown to white. Anal, pelvic, and pectoral fins are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

or light brown, and dorsal and caudal fins have a narrow black line on rays. In specimens smaller than SL, minute black spots are present on the flanks. In preservation the dorsum is dark brown on back and flanks, and yellowish white on the belly. The dorsum of the head is dark brown, and the cheeks beige. Fins are often light brown, and pelvic and anal fins may be yellowish to hyaline. Dorsal and caudal fins are darker than lower fins. The

peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesotheli ...

is black.

Distribution and habitat

''Capoeta razii'' is found in many rivers and streams of the southern Caspian Sea basin. It is one of the most abundant species in the Caspian Sea basin along with the members of the genus ''

Alburnoides ''Alburnoides'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae. The fishes in this genus are found in Europe and Asia. Many species are known as riffle minnows or spirlins. Species These are the currently recogni ...

'' . At the Kheyroud River (type locality), the current was medium to fast, river width was between and the maximum depth was around one metre (3 ft), the stream bed was composed of cobbles and gravel, and the riparian vegetation type was deciduous forests. The following fish species co-exist with ''C. razii'' in type locality: ''

Ponticola iranicus ''Ponticola'' is a genus of gobies native species, native mostly to fresh waters of the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region in Eurasia. Some species occur in the brackish-water Black and Caspian seas themselves. It was considered to be part of the bro ...

'' , '' Alburnoides tabarestanensis'' , '' Alburnus chalcoides'' , ''

Barbus cyri ''Barbus cyri'', the Kura barbel, is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish from the Near East region. The specific epithet ''cyri'' is from the Latin for the Kura River in Georgia, which is the type locality. After synonymisation with the ...

'' , ''

Squalius turcicus ''Squalius'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the daces, Eurasian minnows and reklated fishes. The fishies in this genus are found in Europe and Asia. Hybridization is not rare in the Leuciscidae, incl ...

'' , ''

Luciobarbus capito ''Luciobarbus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are found in fresh and brackish waters of southern Europe, northern Africa, the wider Near East, the Aral and Caspian Seas, and rivers associated with these. S ...

'' , ''

Luciobarbus mursa ''Luciobarbus mursa'' is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Luciobarbus'' from freshwater habitats in Central Asia and Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asi ...

'' , ''

Cobitis faridpaki ''Cobitis'' is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cobitidae from temperate and subtropical Eurasia. It contains the "typical spiny loaches", including the well-known spined loach of Europe. Similar spiny loaches, occurring generally s ...

'' . ''Capoeta razii'' is known from most of the rivers and streams between Atrak and Kote komeh (Near Astara city) rivers in the southern Caspian Sea basin.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q42266294 Razii Endemic fauna of Iran Taxa named by Arash Jouladeh-Roudbar Taxa named by Soheil Eagderi Taxa named by Hamid Reza Ghanavi Taxa named by Ignacio Doadrio Villarejo Fish described in 2017