Alburnoides parhami Mousavi-Sabet, Vatandoust & Doadrio, 2015
Parham's riffle minnow
Alburnoides parhami
photo by Mousavi-Sabet, H.

Family:  Leuciscidae (Minnows), subfamily: Leuciscinae
Max. size:  8.01 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 6.4 g
Environment:  benthopelagic; freshwater
Distribution:  Asia: Baba-Aman Stream, Atrak River drainage, Caspian Sea basin in Iran.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-12; Anal soft rays: 14-17; Vertebrae: 39-41. Alburnoides parhami is distinguished from other congeners in Iran by a combination of the following characters: ventral keel most commonly sharp, scaleless; snout long, slightly pointed; mouth terminal with the tip of the mouth cleft on a level with the upper half of the pupil; absence of well-marked spots or dark pigmentation in the lateral line canal; eye large, orbit width about equal to interorbital width); 46-51 lateral line scales to posterior margin of hypurals; commonly 2.5-5.2 pharyngeal teeth; commonly 8½ branched rays on dorsal fin; commonly 12½ or 13½ branched rays on anal fin; typically 10 scale rows between lateral line and dorsal fin origin; 39-41, usually 40-41, total vertebrae; caudal vertebral region equal or slightly longer than abdominal region (most frequent vertebral formulae 20 + 20 and 20 + 21); and usually 12 or 13 predorsal vertebrae (Ref. 106248).
Biology:  The type locality, stream Baba-Aman, at the time of the collection had non-clear water, medium to fast water flow, width of about 3-5 m and maximum depth of up to 1.5 m, grassy shores, submergent plants, and stream bed composed of gravel and mud. Found syntopic with Capoeta gracilis (Keyserling, 1861), Luciobarbus mursa (Guldenstadt, 1773), and Paracobitis atrakensis Esmaeili et al., 2014. (Ref. 106248).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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