Four obligate cave fish species have been recorded from Zagros in Iran: three from the genus Garra, G. typhlops, G. lorestanensis, and G. tashanensis, as well as the Zagros blind loach Eidinemacheilus smithi. 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 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.
留言