ehsan damadi

The small-scale grouper Epinephelus polylepis from the family Epinephilidae, is an important commercial species that plays a crucial role in coastal benthic ecosystems. Previous studies have failed to accurately identify this species in the northern region of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The aim of this study is to analyze the samples of E. polylepis collected in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman using a combination of morphological and molecular data. The morphological data include 17 morphological characters and six counting characters. For the molecular study, sequences of the mitochondrial COI were used, which were combined with GenBank sequences. The samples were collected in the sandy areas of two stations, Tis and Qeshm. This species can be distinguished from other congeners by the presence of smaller and closer spots on the fins and spots on the back of the head and body. Analysis of the COI sequences of the mitochondrial DNA and samples sequenced in this study and samples from the vicinity of the typing site (Bahrain) revealed a monophyletic group with a high posterior probability and a low intraspecific genetic distance (0.19%). In addition, molecular analysis completely separated this species from other congeners.

The Lutjanus genus is a group of fishes with high economic and ecological value in the Oman Sea, whose species show great morphological similarity. This study aimed to compare the morphological variation of 11 species of Lutjanus genus with traditional morphometric and geometric morphometric approaches. Based on the studies conducted, 11 species of the genus Lutjanus including L. lutjanus, L. argentimaculatus, L. ehrenbergii, L. erythropterus, L. fulviflamma, L. johnii, L. lemniscatus, L. malabaricus, L. rivulatus, L. russellii, L. quinquelineatus were identified. Traditional and geometric morphometric approaches were able to distinguish most of the species of this genus from each other in counting, measuring and body shape traits respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyzes showed a relatively high agreement, so that the number of dorsal fin spines, the number of gill spines, the length of the front ventral fin, the body depth, the length of the caudal peduncle and the length of the head had the greatest role in the separation of the members of this genus. According to our results, species diversity was higher in the eastern stations of the Oman Sea (Tis and Brice) than in the western one, which could be due to ecological factors and habitat conditions. This study suggests the use of molecular analyzes to confirm the identified species and design a detailed conservation plan.

The study of fish in aquatic ecosystems is important from many aspects, including ecology, behavior, protection, and management of water resources, exploitation of reserves, and their cultivation the genus Acanthopagrus includes species with high economic importance and many challenges in their classification. The reason for this is the morphological similarity between a large number of their species. The purpose of this study is to investigate the morphological diversity of 5 species of Acanthopagrus fishes using traditional morphometry, truss system and geometric morphometry in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. In the present study, in traditional morphometry17 morphometric charactris and 10 meristic charactris were measured . In the geometric method, 17 landmarks were placed on the images, and then morphological differences between species were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical variate analysis (CVA). In the traditional approach,morphometric charactris show the separation of A. arabicus species from two species, A. bifasciatus and A. catenula, meristic charactris performed much better than quantitative charactris and separated most of the species from each other. The number of lateral line scales and the number of scales above the lateral line showed the greatest role in the separation of the members of this genus. Also, the truss approach separated A. catenula and A. bifasciatus species from other species. The geometric method shows the separation of two species, A. arabicus and A. sheim.

Gobiidae is the most species-rich family of teleost fishes, with approximately 1915 valid species belonging to 263 genera. This family is composed of five subfamilies, including Sicydiinae, Gobionellinae, Oxudercinae, Amblyopinae, Gobiinae. 24 species from 19 genera of Gobiidae have been reported in Iranian waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The aim of the present study is to survey phylogenetic relationships of Gobiidae representatives from Iran using 64 sequences (Rhodopsin, Rag1 and COI markers) belong to 21 species. In this study, specimens from Bathygobius meggitti (Chabahar, sequenced for Rhodopsin), Stonogobiops nematodes, and Valenciennea strigata (Qeshm Island, sequenced for COI) have been examined for the first time. Gobiidae members recorded from Iran are classified in diverse molecular lineages including, Periophthalmus-lineage, Gobiopsis-lineage, Glossogobius-lineage, Cryptocentrus-lineage, Gobiodon-lineage and Valenciennea-lineage. Sequencing nuclear markers of all recorded species from the Iranian Southern water bodies and the Caspian Sea basin could determine more detail of molecular phylogenetic relationships of this family.

In this study a total of four Calotes versicolor specimens (three males, one female), collected in different localities from April 2013 to March 2014 in Southeast of Iran were examined. The study was based on morphological features including color pattern, morphometric measurements, habits, biological observations especially habitat and distribution. Habits features, habitat and new distribution localities were documented. This is the first record of Calotes versicolor from the Kalesari village is 44 km away from the last record in Nahang River.

During herpetological fieldwork from April 2013 to March 2014 on the herpetofauna of the counties of Saravan, Sib and Suran, Zaboli, Sarbaz, and Chabahar in south east of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, SoutheasternIran a total of 97 specimens of lizards belonging to 19 species and five subspecies, 16 genera, and six families were collected and identified as follows: Calotes versicolor, Laudakia nupta nupta, L. n. fusca, Phrynocephalus scutellatus, Trapelus agilis agilis (Agamidae); Agamura persica, Bunopus tuberculatus, Cyrtopodion scabrum (Gekkonidae); Acanthodactylus blanfordii, A. micropholis, Eremias fasciata, E. persica , Mesalina watsonana, Ophisops elegans (Lacertidae); Ablepharus pannonicus, Eumeces schneiderii zarudnyi, Ophiomorus brevipes, O. tridactylus (Scincidae); Uromastyx asmussi (Uromastycidae); and Varanus griseus caspius (Varanidae). The most diverse families of the present collection are the Lacertidae with six species, followed by Agamidae and Scincidae each with four species. Detailed information of each lizard species was also provided.