Saw scaled vipers of the genus Echis belong to the family Viperidae and subfamily Viperinae. These vipers are widely distributed from East Africa to Southwest and Central Asia. Echis bite is one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Different populations of these medically important snakes have different venom composition, and the relevant antivenom is highly species-specific. Echis has a complex taxonomic history. For many years, only two species were recognized (i.e., Echis coloratus...
Topics: Echis, the Middle East, Phylogeny, Saw Scaled Viper, Taxonomy
Climate change is an important growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. Previous studies have shown that climate change will negatively influence Iran’s biodiversity. Reptiles are among the most vulnerable groups to climate change. Until now, 80 terrestrial snakes have been identified in Iran in which 16 are terrestrial venomous. In the present study, we predicted the impacts of climate change on distribution of the genus Macrovipera in Iran. We applied an ensemble approach, using five...
Topics: Macrovipera lebetina, Macrovipera razii, Distribution, Conservation, Iran
Guilan province, located in northern Iran and surrounded by the Caspian Sea to the north and the Hyrcanian forests to the south, boasts the most diverse habitats in the country. However, there is a lack of information on bat fauna in the caves of Guilan province, with all existing records limited to artificial roosts, foraging individuals or echolocation calls. Despite this, available data suggests that 13 species of bats have been reported in the region. In this study, 12 caves throughout the...
Topics: Chiroptera, Fauna, Hyrcanian Forests
Marsh frog, Pelophylax bedriagae tadpoles habituate in temporary wetlands where intraspecific aggression has been observed. In this study, we examined the independent and interactive effects of predator cues, water level and density on head width and head, tail and whole-body cannibalism of larval P . bedriagae. We designed a 2×2×3 factorial experiment, by crossing two levels of predatory cues (presence/absence), two levels of density (low/ high) and three levels of water (low/ high/...
Topics: Amphibia, Intraspecific predation, Predatory cues, Density, Tadpole, Water level, Marsh frog
Haemosporidians are a diverse group of vector-borne parasitic protozoa that have a global distribution and some of them live in the avian body as a benign parasite, with no symptoms. Avian Haemosporidians, include three main genera, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon. These blood parasites are transmitted across different regions through migratory birds. We studied the prevalence of avian haemosporidian parasites in both resident and migratory birds in the central and southern regions...
Topics: Haemosporidian, Haemoproteus spp., Plasmodium spp., Leucocytozoon spp., Resident birds, Migratory...
Vulture Safe Feeding Sites (VSFS) provide diclofenac-free food and create an ideal environment for long-term ecological research on vultures. This study determines the population status and investigates the diurnal behavior of White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) at the Ghachowk VSFS in Kaski, Nepal. We deployed the absolute count method to determine population of White- rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis), while scan sampling was applied to investigate their diurnal behaviour. The observed...
Topics: behavioral study, critically endangered species, vulture feeding sites
Heteroptera as one of the most important insect orders with a significant ecological role is still scarcely known faunistically in several areas of Iran. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the Iranian Heteroptera fauna, a survey was carried out to provide detailed information on the distribution of true bugs in South Khorasan province (Ghaen and vicinity). Samples were collected using aspirator and sweeping net by irregular patterns. In total, 136 specimens were collected and...
Topics: Alfalfa, Heteroptera, South Khorasan, New record
The hermit crabs in the intertidal zone of the Hormuz Island, Persian Gulf, were identified by seasonal sampling at six intertidal stations during 2010–2011. Nine species were identified, including one Coenobitidae (Coenobita scaevola) and eight Diogenidae (Clibanarius signatus, C. longitarsus, Diogenes avarus, D. planimanus, D. tirmiziae, D. karwarensis, Areopaguristes perspicax, and Dardanus tinctor). All species in this study are new records for the Hormuz Island. Checklist Information and...
Topics: Checklist, hermit crab, new records, Hormuz Island, Persian Gulf
A new cephalobid nematode, Trithornus aquatica gen. n. sp. n. has been described and illustrated. The new genus can be distinguished by the unique shape of its labial probolae, consisting of swollen labial shaft and a trifurcated apical section. The cephalic probolae is triangular in shape. Cuticle is transversely annulated, lateral field with five incisors, outer ones being undulate. The stoma comprises of cheilostom with granular rhabdia, gymnostom narrower than cheilostom and stegostom....
Topics: Aquatic, Cephalobidae, Cephalobina, Trithornus, Taxonomy, India
Based on this survey 23 species of family Laelapidae have been identified which two species of them are reported as new record for Iranian mites fauna, that are marked with an asterisk. The list of identified genera and species is as follows: Laelapidae: Gaeolaelaps aculeifer (Canestrini, 1884); G. oreithyiae (Walter and Oliver, 1989); G. angustus (Karg, 1965); G. kargi (Costa, 1968); G. nolli (Karg, 1962); G. khajooii Kazemi, Rajaei and Beaulieu, 2014; Pneumolaelaps (Hypoaspisella) linteyini...
Topics: Iran, Mesostigmata, mite, new record, soil, taxonomy
The Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach was recorded as a rare bird in Iran (Scott et al, 1975; Scott& Adhami, 2006; Mansoori, 2008; Khaleghizadeh et al, 2011). There were previously six records of this species in the 1890s near Emam-Qoli in the Kopet Dagh Mountains in northern Khorasan (Roselaar& Aliabadian, 2009). It had been thought that the Long-tailed Shrike was possibly breeding in northeastern Iran in the 1890s (Zarudny, 1911) but later assumed to be extinct in Iran because of no...
Topics: Long-tailed Shrike, Southe Khorasan Province, Ferdows township
The genus Caradrina Ochsenheimer, 1816 is restricted to Holarctic and Ethiopian regions. Small inconspicuous appearance of its species is such that determination of the well over 150 species is one of the most difficult problems among all Noctuidae. According to light trap samplings which were made in different parts of Iran during 2010-2016, the present paper offers new data on the distribution of Caradrina species in Iran and reports Caradrina turcomana Hacker, 2004, as a new record for the...
Topics: Caradrina, checklist, Iran, new record, Caradrina turcomana
Calomyscidae is a monotypic family of muroid rodents with nine valid allopatric species distributed in southwestern Asia of which seven species have been so far recognized from Iran. The western and southern Zagros Mountains were thought to be home to a single species, Calomyscus bailwardi, but new researches revealed that the region is also home to four highly divergent molecular lineages. One of them was recently described as a new species (C. behzadi) but the taxonomic position of the other...
Topics: Calomyscus, karyotype, mitochondrial genes, morphometry, taxonomy, phylogeny, Zagros Mountains, Iran
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Many studies conducted on range of animals showed that morphology is related to habitat. In the present study, we aimed to examine the morphological characteristics of species assigned to the genus Ophiomorus in Iran. Seventy-one specimens from throughout the range of distribution in the central plateau of Iran were investigated. Eleven morphometric and four meristic variables were analyzed independently. Multivariate analyses were performed using canonical variate analysis (CVA) and principal...
Topics: Adaptation, Biogeography, Morphology, Ophiomorus, Iranian Plateau, Snake Skinks
The eyelid bearing geckos Eublepharidae including six widely disjunct genera and 45 species which are distributed in tropical to temperate habitats of Eurasia, North-Central America and Africa. One of the eublepharid genera is the fat-tailed geckos of the genus Eublepharis Gray, 1827. The specific characters of Eublepharis involves flat basioccipital bone, deep axial pockets (armpit), eyelids well developed and movable, pupil vertical, dorsal small scales juxtaposed larger tubercles. The...
Topics: Eublepharis, Eyelid geckos, Eublepharidae, Distribution, Asia.
The Bombyliidae family with around 5382 described species is one of the most important families in order Diptera considering their remarkable roles in biological pest control. Species of the family Bombyliidae were monitored in Guilan province in 2019 and 2020. We aimed to evaluate their biodiversity in the grasslands along with the determining Simpson and Margalef indexes. Totally 20 species from 11 genera in 2019 and 17 species from 10 genera in 2020 were identified in eight selected...
Topics: Diversity, Bombyliidae, Simpson index, Margalef index, Guilan province
Iran is a large country with diverse and unique climate and ecology; therefore, it is expected to discover an exceptional fauna with high species diversity by carefully examining the unknown areas. A few taxonomic studies have been so far conducted on the genus Pholcus in Iran. Taxonomic and preliminary phylogenetic evaluation of widespread species of the genus Pholcus from Iran is considered in the present study, based on specimens collected from northern and southwestern parts of the country....
Topics: Species delimitation, DNA-based, CO1, morphology, Iran, Pholcus
The genus Hottentotta Birula, 1908 is one of the most widely distributed buthid scorpion, with more than 40 described species from Africa, across the Middle East, to India. Currently, the genus is represented by ten morphological species in Iran (H. akbarii, H. jayakari, H. juliae, H. khoozestanus, H. lorestanus, H. navidpouri, H. saulcyi, H. schach, H. sistanensis and H. zagrosensis), all of which endemic or subendemic in Iran. The members of this genus have not been properly studied from the...
Topics: Coxae, Geometry, Hottentotta, Landmark, Shape variation, Sternum
In this study, earthworms were collected from the wetlands of Sistan at 17 stations. The following nine species were identified: Aporrectodea caliginosa (Savigny, 1826), Ap. jassyensis (Michaelsen, 1891), Ap. longa (Ude, 1885), Ap. rosea (Savigny, 1826), Ap. trapezoides (Dugès, 1828), Bimastos parvus (Eisen, 1874), Eisenia andrei/fetida complex, E. omranii Latif, Malek and Csuzdi, 2017, and Eiseniella tetraedra (Savigny, 1826). All species comprise a new record for the east of Iran. The most...
Topics: Earthworm, Lumbricidae, New record, Sistan and Balouchestan, Iran.
In late summer 2016, the first author collected 34 specimens from nine species of Mantodea from Lorestan, chiefly Kuhdasht, Eastern part of the province. Although nine species were determined as new records for this part of the country, more searches in different seasons may lead to finding more species even new ones because this group of insects poorly studied in Iran especially in mountainous western part of the country. It is argued that much more diversity from a short time collecting...
Topics: Zoology, Mantodea, Mantids, Iran
Data on distribution and fauna of cave-dwelling bat species from Iran is infrequent. Recent studies in certain parts of the country especially the western and southwestern regions demonstrated a high level of species richness for chiropteran fauna. Since Lorestan province is located in the middle of Zagros mountain ranges, and a considerable number of bat species are living in the adjacent provinces; it is expected that Lorestan also harbors a great number of bat species. In the present study,...
Topics: Chiroptera, distribution, fauna, Lorestan Province, Zagros Range.
The Bedraiga's skink gecko, Teratoscincus bedriagai, is among the fairly known lizards of Iran. Phylogenetic relationships among five distant populations of Teratoscincus bedriagai were estimated based on the mitochondrial COI sequences. This study highlights very low genetic divergences among examined populations despite the noticeable geographic distance between them. We assumed that the current distribution pattern of haplotypes is shaped as a consequence of climate changes and glaciations...
Topics: Genetic distance, Teratoscincus bedriagai, Iran, Sphaerodactylidae, Quaternary
Aquatic Coleoptera plays a major role in freshwater ecosystems and is regarded as an effective bioindicator. While being widely distributed in Iran, there are few studies that use aquatic Coleoptera to determine environmental quality and conditions. With ample water resources, the province of Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Iran, offers an excellent opportunity to explore the effect of environmental characteristics on aquatic beetles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the structure...
Topics: Aquatic Coleoptera, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Dytiscidae, Ecological Factors, Water temperature
Species of Anurophorus Nicolet, 1842 (Collembola: Isotomidae) mostly occur in forest habitats. They are usually dark in colors and characterised by absence of furca. During 2018, a survey was conducted for Collembola in Mazandaran province (Northern Iran). Some Isotomdiae specimens were extracted from soil, moss and decaying wood samples using Berlese funnel. Among the collected samples from family Isotomidae some specimens of Anurophorus silvaticus Potapov & Stebaeva, 1990 were also...
Topics: Anurophorinae, Biodiversity, Hyrcanian forest, Mazandaran
The first record of Montivipera kuhrangica from outside of its type locality is introduced from a high elevation area of Isfahan province, Iran. The specimens are morphologically consistent with the type-specimen's description, except for the Loreal and Infralabial scales.
Topics: New record, Iran, Fauna, phylogeny, viperidae, snake
Habitat with its components is the most important need of wildlife species. So that, habitat management is a critical procedure in wildlife conservation. In the present study, desirable habitats of Kavir National Park for Wild goat are determined in two distinguished warm and cold seasons, applying Random Forests, Maximum Entropy, and Classification Tree algorithmsa and for this matter “Salford Predictive Modeler” and MaxEnt software were used. Consequently, an ensemble habitat suitability...
Topics: Wild goat, Kavir National Park, habitat suitability, MaxEnt, random forest, classification and...
The present study, during 2010-2011 was carried out in Torbat-e Heydarie (Razavi Khorasan Province). Adult speciemens were collected randomly with butterfly net. A totally, 28 species belong to 14 genus, two subfamilies were identified. All species are recorded for the first time from the studied area
Topics: Hoverfly, Khorasan province, fauna, Iran, Diptera
In this study, the nest-cavity characteristics of Middle Spotted and Syrian Woodpeckers as well as tree characteristics (i.e. tree diameter at breast height and hole measurements) chosen by each species were analyzed. Our results show that vertical entrance diameter, chamber vertical depth, chamber horizontal depth, area of entrance and cavity volume were significantly different between Syrian Woodpecker and Middle Spotted Woodpecker (P < 0.05). The average tree diameter at breast height...
Topics: competition, dimensions, nest-cavity, primary hole nesters.
The minute pirate bugs (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) are an important group of natural enemies for biological control of many pests such as aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and spider mites. In this study, biodiversity of anthocorid bugs was studied in three geographical localities of Lorestan province (Khoramabad, Veisian, and Borujerd) during March 2014 to June 2016. A total of seven species, including Anthocoris pilosus (Jakolev‚ 1877), Orius albidipennis (Reuter, 1884), Orius laevigatus (Fieber,...
Topics: Anthocoridae, biodiversity, Lorestan, agricultural intensification, predatory bugs.
Bed bugs are regarded as one of the most important pests in human societies. Cimex hemipterus (Fabricius) is a parasite of humans and bats across tropical areas of the world. In the present study, the nymph and adult specimens were collected from residential buildings in central and western parts of Iran. Samples were identified using a diagnostic key at the species level and confirmed by molecular studies. Phylogenetic analysis using COI gene was also carried out. This study is the first...
Topics: Urban pest, Bed bugs, Molecular identification, Phylogenetic tree, COI
Ektaphelenchus joyceae was repeatedly isolated from pine packaging woods imported from Korea and Japan to China. They are morphologically and morphometrically very similar and are characterized by having a total body length range of 539-718 μm, cuticle with fine transverse annuli and three lines in lateral fields, slightly offset lip region with six equally sized lips, hemizonid and excretory pore well posterior to metacorpus, 14.2-18.0 μm long stylet with visible lumen and lacking knobs,...
Topics: Aphelenchoidea, morphology, morphometrics, new observations, phylogeny, taxonomy.
Nemacheilian loaches are a group of freshwater fishes which are distributed in many inland waters of Iran. They are complex species from aspects of systematic with many species of this family being morphologically undistinguishable. Due to limitations behind the morphology-based identification of such species, genetic approaches such as DNA barcoding can be helpful to distinguish species, although their genetic relationships are not well determined yet. The present investigation provides data...
Topics: Cytochrome oxidase, DNA barcoding, Nemachilidae, phylogenetic tree, species identification.
An annotated checklist of marine brachyuran crabs from Gujarat waters is prepared based on past and recent literature. In total, 152 species from 87 genera and 29 families of brachyuran crabs including four new records and two revisions are listed. Gulf of Kutch comprises higher species diversity in comparison to Saurashtra coastline and Gulf of Khambhat. Dorippe quadridens (Fabricius, 1793), Lyphira perplexa Galil, 2009, Lewindromia unidentata (Rüppell, 1830) were reported for the first time...
Topics: Annotated checklist, brachyuran crabs, distribution, Gujarat waters, new records.
Scorpions (order: Scorpiones) are widely distributed predatory arachnids and highly resistant to environmental conditions. Some factors such as microorganisms of internal cavity of scorpions may affect their biology. In addition, microbial communities of gut effect on immunity system and nutrition in arthropoda. However, few data are available for the microbiota diversity of scorpion gut. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the microbial diversity of scorpions related to the Buthidae...
Topics: scorpion, gut, bacteria
Aceria tristriatus (Nalepa, 1890) is one of the major pests of walnut (Juglans regia L.: Juglandaceae) in Iran, especially in western of country. It causes galls on leaves that mainly concentrated along the main and lateral veins. The gall forms toward the upper surface of the leaf with the opening on the lower side. This paper reports the re– description of adult stages (protogyne, deutogyne and male) and description of immature stages of walnut leaf gall mite. Furthermore difference between...
Topics: complementary description, different stages, walnut leaf gall mite, western Iran
In the study on biodiversity and systematics of meiobenthic copepods from northern coastline of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, a canuelloid species, Canuellina insignis Gurrney, 1927 was found. This is the first report of the species in Iranian waters and also in the area
Topics: Canuellidae, Copepods, meiobenthic, littoral zone, Iran.
In the present study, a species list of identified terrestrial isopods in the fauna of Iran is provided based on the literature records. The list contains 45 species belonging to 25 genera and 11 families, of which two genera and 21 species are endemic to the country. Distributional data is provided for each species. Embracing 19 species, the family Agnaridae Schmidt, 2003 contain the highest number of species in Iran. In the near future several undescribed species will presumably be added to...
Topics: Oniscidea, terrestrial isopods, checklist, Iran
The genus Eirenis encompasses 20 small-sized colubrid species, showing its highest diversity with 13 species in Iran. Eirenis coronelloides (Jan, 1862) is one of these 13 species which found in western Iran. Two additional specimens of this species were collected in western Ilam Province, Western Iran. This taxon has a crescent-like distribution in the Middle-East with eastern ramous extended in the western and southwestern regions of Iran. Morphological analyses of the additional specimens are...
Topics: Eirenis coronelloides, Ilam, Iran, sympatry, Zagros Mountains
The house mouse (Mus musculus) is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. In general, this species inflicts many direct and indirect economic losses and public health problems. Mainly economic losses are the damage to building installations, building structures, and stored products, poultry farms. Trapping is an effective and often used common method of controlling mice. To decrease the use of poison baits and environmental protection, controlling mice by traps is very important. In this study,...
Topics: Mus musculus, trap efficiency, control, Faragir trap.
Clinostomum spp. have a long uncertain taxonomic history which also have attracted great attentions. This could be due to their zoonotic potential and the presence of yellow grubs in the fish as a second intermediate host. In the current study, a total of 3oo freshwater fish belonging to the nine species were collected from two stations in the Gheshlagh basin, Kurdistan Province. Four species including Alburnus mossulensis, Capoeta damascina, Garra rufa and Squalius cephalus were found to be...
Topics: Clinostomum complanatum, freshwater fish, Gheshlagh basin, ITS gene, morphology
Morphological variation of Alburnus mossulensis (Heckel, 1843) populations in Iran were investigated by collection of 705 specimens from 27 rivers of five basins, including Bushehr, Fars, Karkheh, Karun and tributaries of Tigris (Diyala) basin in Iran in 2010 by a seine net. The specimens were fixed in 10% formalin for further investigation after anesthetizing in 1% clove oil solution. Twenty-two morphometric and 11 meristic characters were examined. Morphometric characters in adjusted form and...
Topics: morphology, Alburnus mossulensis, morphometric, meristic.
The family Agnaridae Schmidt, 2003 was established for those terrestrial isopods with monospiracular covered lungs on lateral margin of all pleopod exopodites (Schmidt, 2003). According to the world catalogue of terrestrial isopods (Schmalfuss, 2003), the family includes 15 genera. The members of the genus Hemilepistus sensu lato are characterized by possessing tubercles only on the vertex and anterior pereion-tergites (Borutzky, 1945; Lincoln, 1970; Kashani et al., 2010, 2011), while smooth...
Topics: Oniscidea, Protra, cheoniscus, Hemilepistus, Uzbekistan
As there was no record of Miniphila miniago (Freyer, 1840) (Lepidoptera, Noctuinae) from Iran in any recent taxonomic catalogs and due to description of its closest species Miniphila persago (Gyulai & Ronkay, 2006) from Iran, the occurrence of M. miniago in Iran which was reported 40 years ago was doubtful. In this study, specimens identified and reported as M. miniago preserved at the Hyke Mirzayans Insect Museum and types of M. persago were evaluated and compared. Result revealed that the...
Topics: Miniphila miniago, Miniphila persago, Noctuinae, distribution, Iran
As a recently described species, Mediodactylus ilamensis is one of the least studied species of endemic reptiles of Iran. In this study a total number of 11 specimens of Mediodactylus ilamensis were collected from type locality (Zarin-Abad) as well as a new locality in Dinar- Kooh Preserved area, Abdanan Township approximately 27 km on an aerial line in the east of type locality. To investigate morphological variation and reveal sexual dimorphism we employed 32 metric and meristic characters....
Topics: Carinatogecko, Iran, Ilam, Dinarkooh.
We review earlier distributional records of Mehely's horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus mehelyi, in Iran and report new distribution records obtain during 2014–2017. Until 2012, R. mehelyi had been recorded from 14 localities. We report ten new locality records and therefore increasing the known range to Zagros Mts. We also report echolocation-call parameters for 42 individuals caught in six caves which represent the first information from Iran
Topics: Chiroptera, Iran, new records, Rhinolophus mehelyi, Zagros Mountains
To evaluate the lizard fauna of the Sistan region, field work was conducted from 2014 to 2015 in five sampling locations as Zabol, Zahak, Hirmand, Nimrooz and Hamoon towns. Field work was done during both day and night at all sites. In total, 196 specimens were collected and identified using available identification keys. Collected lizards belong to six families: Agamidae, Lacertidae, Gekkonidae, Sphaerodactylidae, Scincidae and Varanidae. A total of 10 genera and 15 species of lizards were...
Topics: Sistan lizard’s fauna, Eastern Iran, Helmand basin, reptiles
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...
Topics: Agamidae, Calotes versicolor, Distribution, Habits, Habitats, Iran
The genetic variation of narrow-clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus, Eschscholtz, 1823) from Caspian Sea including two sites (Astara and Kiashahr), Aras region, Anzali lagoon and three rivers (Chafrood, Masuleh, and Siah Darvishan) was evaluated and their genetic variation on the basis of DNA microsatellite loci was estimated. DNA from pleopods of 194 specimens extracted and was examined with six microsatellite markers. Genetic differences between the populations were discerned by pairwise...
Topics: Astacus leptodactylus, Microsatellite DNA, Stock structure, Caspian Sea
Tardigrada is a phylum closely allied with the arthropods. They are small (0.05-1.20 mm), hygrophilous micrometazoans, have four pairs of lobe-like legs and are either carnivorous or feed on plant material. Most of the tardigrade species are limno-terrestrial. In two moss and lichen samples collected in Mashhad, one heterotardigrade species was found. Echiniscus testudo (Doyère, 1840) belongs to the Echiniscidae group and differs from most of other species in this group mainly by having a...
Topics: Water bears, Middle East, Tardigrada, Biogeography, Diversity
This paper is a new report of a Holothuroidea (Apodida: Synaptidae: Protankyra) Protankyra pseudodigitata from Persian Gulf. Specimen was collected by a Van Veen Grab from subtidal soft bottoms in May 2016. The specimen recorded was small measuring 12 mm in length, body worm-like in shape with 12 digitate tentacles encircles the mouth. Podia are lacking in the Apodida but skin papillae are present. Ossicles consist of Anchor plates, Anchors and Miliary granules. Anchors are variable in...
Topics: Holothuroidea, Protankyra pseudodigitata, ossicles, Persian Gulf.
Uljanin (1875) described Porcellio latus from Turkestan and figured some characters of the species.
Topics: Porcellio, Protracheoniscus, Lucasioides
The new report on the Persian gecko is based on one adult male and two adult females from Qasr-e-Shirin, Kermanshah Province. This is the most western point of distribution recorded for Hemidactylus persicus Anderson, 1872. The collected specimens were examined based on metric, meristic, and pholidotic characters. These were larger than previously measured specimens from southwestern Iran. Moreover, color patterns were different from previous specimens
Topics: Gekkonidae, Hemidactylus persicus, New record, distribution
In this paper, which is the first contribution in the series devoted to the camel spiders of Iran, seven species from Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province are reported. The genus Gluviopsilla and two species; Gluviopsilla discolor (Kraepelin, 1899) (♀) and Paragaleodes nesterovi Birula, 1916 (♂♀) are new to the fauna of Iran, and five species Galeodes cf. krausi Harvey, 2002 (♂♀), Galeodes trichotichnus Roewer, 1934 (♂), Gylippus (Paragylippus) spinimanus Birula, 1905 (♀),...
Topics: diversity, fauna, Iranian Plateau, new records, sun spider, Zagros Mountains.
Carabidae is the third most species-rich family of the order Coleoptera. Most members of the family are predators considered beneficial components of natural and agricultural ecosystems. A faunistic study was conducted on the carabids of northeastern Iran, including Khorasan-e-Razavi, Khorasan-e- Shomali, and Golestan provinces, during 2016–2018. A total of 35 species belonging to 22 genera and seven subfamilies were identified from collected ground beetles in the studied area. The subfamily...
Topics: Carabidae, Coleoptera, fauna, Iran, new record.
There is an urgent need for quality control of marine species data published in domestic journals and open access databases. We extracted 149 accepted Cnidarian species after the quality control process on available published records on the OBIS data scheme. In total, 75 species belong to the hard corals (Scleractinia); 16 species belong to soft corals (Alcyonacea); 4 species of sea anemones (Actiniaria); 7 species of colonial anemones (Zoantharia); 24 species of thecate hydroids...
Topics: Occurrence, Observation, Cnidaria, Darwin core format, OBIS.
The Sexual dimorphism (SD) in body size is very common among the scorpions. In this study, the SD was investigated in two aspects of size and shape in the genus Odontobuthus Vachon, 1950 as a small genus of the family Buthidae. This genus has six fossorial species of which four are distributed in Iran. For this purpose, 43 morphometric variables, consisting of 38 metric measurements and five meristic characters were digitized in the six species, O. bidentatus, O. doriae, O. tavighiae, O....
Topics: morphometric, meristic, sexual dimorphism, size, shape, sexual selection.
Typical gobies are small in size and usually found as marine fishes. They inhabit on or whitin the substrates holes, and are mostly invisible. The present study identified two goby genera including Valenciennea and Gobiodon in Qeshm Island for the first time. Nuclear rhodopsin gene was sequenced in four goby species including G. citrinus, V. puellaris, V. sexguttata, as well as V. strigata. Furthermore, nuclear rhodopsin and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of 38...
Topics: Valenciennea, Gobiodon, molecular phylogeny, Persian Gulf, Qeshm Island
The morphology and structure of the hemipenis play a significant role in the recognition of species, and could be an excellent indicator of the phylogenetic relationships among male taxa. The hemipenes have value in distinguishing taxa. Laudakia nupta and Paralaudakia caucasia are sympatric in Kalekan Neck (Northeastern regions of Kermanshah Province, 34° 42’ N, 47° 17’ E, Elevation: 1880 m). In this study, we investigated and compared hemipeneal structure of Laudakia nupta and...
Topics: hemipenis, character displacement, Paralaudakia caucasia, Laudakia nupta, sympatric populations.
The genus Odontothrips was erected by Amyot & Serville in 1843. Karny (1907) designated O. phaleratus (Haliday) as the type species of the genus. In this genus, the structures of male genitalia are very important in the identification of species. Pitkin (1972) used the structures of male genitalia in the taxonomy of this genus for the first time. Species of Odontothrips are typical flower- living thrips, and most species are related to plants of the family Fabaceae. Furthermore, they are...
Topics: genus, Odontothrips
In this study, 68 specimens of the Levant Green Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae, were collected from agricultural fields around Yasouj and Noor-Abad cities, from August 2018 to May 2019 in southern Iran to investigate the blood cell morphology. Blood specimens were taken from the heart, or abdominal and facial veins. Smears were dried in room temperature, fixed by methanol and stained using Giemsa method. Blood cells (erythrocytes, leucocytes, and thrombocytes) were counted and measured using light...
Topics: RBC, Leucocyte, Yasouj, Noor-Abad, Haematology
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the morphological changes and body shape variations of the Zagros Tooth-carp Aphanius vladykovi populations in six water bodies located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran. For this purpose, 240 specimens were collected from the Choghakhor and Gandoman wetlands, the Shalamzar, Balagholi, and Brovi springs, and the Beheshtabad River. Twelve landmark points were digitized on the right side of the fish. Statistical analyses including...
Topics: Zagros Tooth-carp, Morphology, Landmark, Ecological conditions
Several studies have been carried out on the classification of freshwater fish (Icthyofauna) in all of Iraq or in the Tigris and Euphrates basin. The current study consisted of (82 specimens) were collected from three different regions within Babylon Province for seven months. Taxonomic status of specimens was studied depending on morphometric traits (biometrics), then preserved in 70% ethyl alcohol. Surveyed area included three main sites in Babylon province, which is located in the center of...
Topics: Icthyofauna, fresh water, Biometrics, Babylon, Iraq.
The meiobenthic harpacticoids of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman has been almost unknown. During October 2014 to September 2016, interstitial and phytal harpacticoids were collected from tide pools in 30 different localities along the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The new information on the distribution of 26 species and 12 families is provided, here. The most species-rich family was Laophontidae with seven species, followed by Miraciidae with four species. In...
Topics: Harpacticoida, Meiobenthics, New records, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Iran.
Bryobia rubrioculus (Scheuten, 1857), is one of the most important pests of spider mites in Hamedan province, western Iran. This species found on aerial part of deciduous and coniferous trees. All mobile stages (larvae, protonymph, deutonymph and adult female) of B. rubrioculus were reared on sweet cherry leaf in germinator under controlled condition and redescription in the present study. Furthermore, a key to Iranian species of the genus Bryobia is presented.
Topics: Tetranychidae, brown mite, re-describtion, mobile stages, Iran
The order Amphipoda is one of the most diverse taxa that globally distributed in all environments and virtually habitats. The members of the genus Niphargus represent an important part of the Western Palearctic subterranean amphipod fauna. Accurate data on the occurrence and distribution of amphipods are only available for some regions. In this study, we were applied Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) to analyze the distribution of amphipod freshwater genus Niphargus occurring strictly at...
Topics: Niphargid species, Freshwater amphipods, Hydrological basins, Areas of endemism, Parsimony, Iran.
Stylocheilus longicauda (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825), a member of long-tailed sea hares (the genera Stylocheilus Gould, 1852 and Bursatella Blainville, 1817), is a pelagic species that almost associated with drifting algae. Its distribution range is limited to the pantropical region (Chinnadurai et al., 2014; Gosliner, Valdez, & Behrens, 2018). It is clearly distinguished from the other species of this genus by having blue spots that circled by red organ bands and also by the lack of...
Topics: Stylocheilus, longicauda
Rich avifauna of Fars province, SW Iran, is a stem from high diversity of habitat and climate beside its geographical position as a crossroad between Palearctic, Oriental, and Afrotropical realms. It shares the greatest number of bird species with the Palearctic region, however two other faunal realms, including Oriental and Afrotropical have a pronounced influence on its avifauna. It seems its bird fauna to be more in common with the Oriental elements than Afrotropical ones; the question...
Topics: Bird fauna, Conservation, Distribution, Zoogeography, Taxonomy, Iran.
To compare body shape variations and meristic plasticity among four populations of Alburnoides idignensis fish from Aab-barik, Aab-Sardeh, Darband and Sarab-e Kayvareh rivers in Tigris River Drainage, Persian Gulf Basin of Iran. Geometric morphometric method was used to compare shape data extracted by recording 15 landmark points on 2-D pictures of 94 specimens collected from the rivers by electrofishing and a seine net. The principal component analysis, Canonical Variate analysis and MANOVA...
Topics: Cyprinidae, Leuciscidae, river systems, Cypriniformes
In the present study, seven species of terrestrial isopods are reported from Iran for the first time. These include Platyarthrus schoblii Budde-Lund, 1885; Trichorhina tomentosa (Budde-Lund, 1893); Armadillo alievi Schmalfuss, 1990; A. officinalis Duméril, 1816; Armadillidium azerbaidzhanum Schmalfuss, 1990, A. nasatum Budde-Lund, 1885 and Schizidium golovatchi Schmalfuss, 1988. The male of the latter species is described for the first time and its diagnostic characters are illustrated....
Topics: Oniscidea, new record, terrestrial isopods, Iran.
The Leaf-toed Geckos of genus Asaccus are distributed in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran of the Middle- East characterizing by a unique characteristic of cloacal sacs and postanal bones absence. The genus Asaccus includes 19 species with at least 10 species in Iran distributing along the Zagros Mountains. Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a body size difference between males and females of the same species, being a widespread phenomenon in reptiles. We collected additional specimens of Asaccus...
Topics: Leaf-toed gecko, Asaccus nasrullahi, Ilam Province, Khuzestan Province, SSD
Biodiversity is one of the key components of environmental sustainability and its conservation is very important. To conserve biodiversity, both its management and measurement management are necessary. Biodiversity measurement means some quantitative value that can be ascribed to the various measurements so these values can be compared. With its geographic and climatic variety, Iran has a valuable biodiversity, which includes about 1130, 25000, and 8000 species of vertebrates, invertebrates and...
Topics: BDI, Software, Biodiversity indices, Iran.
In this paper a batch of earthworms from Afghanistan was studied and previous reports on the earthworm fauna of the country were evaluated. In the present study, earthworms were collected by digging and hand sorting, and fixed in 80% ethanol. Six species belonging to three families were identified. They are Aporrectodea caliginosa, Ap. rosea, Eiseniella tetraedra, Drawida annandalei, Amynthas corticis, and Metaphire bahli. Among them A. corticis, Ap. caliginosa, D. annandalei, and M. bahli are...
Topics: Aporrectodea caliginosa, Amynthas corticis, Drawida annandalei, Metaphire bahli, Lumbricidae,...
Brittle stars are one of the most diverse classes of echinoderms distributed worldwide in marine habitats. In this study, brittle stars were sampled by hand from the intertidal zone of the Persian Gulf's western part to the Oman Sea, from locations accessible without the need of a boat or diving equipment. Sampling time was set in the first days of the lunar month or at least the time of lowest tide in each day. The specimens were first immobilized in freshwater, then fixed in neutralized...
Topics: intertidal, identification, Macrophiothrix, Ophiocoma, ophiuroid
Ongoing investigation into Chironomidae specimens collected from the Sirwan River watershed in 2020 resulted in two new faunistic records for Iran, and new range extensions for the Palearctic region. Two species, Paramerina divisa (Walker, 1856) and Xenochironomus xenolabis (Kieffer, 1916) are diagnosed and reported for the first time from Iran. This contributes to establishing baseline data about the diversity and distribution of freshwater flora and fauna of this region
Topics: Chironomidae, Iran, faunistic records, Palearctic, Middle East, Kurdistan.
This study aimed to find new species of cephalopods in the Iranian waters of the Gulf of Oman. Two species of Oegopsida (Abralia steindachneri Weindl, 1912 and Joubiniteuthis portieri (Joubin, 1916)) and also one species of Sepiida (Sepia omani Adam & Rees, 1966) were identified. Samples were collected in March and April 2019, using a Myctophidae trawler. To capture A. steindachneri a two- panel bottom trawl (codend mesh size (A) equal to 60 mm) was used, while for J. portieri and S. omani...
Topics: Abralia steindachneri, Cuttlefish, Joubiniteuthis portieri, Sepia omani, Squid.
Morphological studies are strong and instrumental for determining discreteness of the similar species and extensively used to identify differences between fish populations. A total of 216 specimens of Alosa braschnikowi were randomly collected by beach seine from three fishing regions along the southern Caspian Sea coasts, including some regions of Miankaleh, Sari and Anzali, in the fishing season during 2018-2019. The extracted landmark-points (body shape data) were submitted to a generalized...
Topics: Alosa braschnikowi, Clupeidae, Shape variation, Landmark, Caspian Sea
In this checklist 128 ant species belonging to 28 genera that have been recorded from Azerbaijan are presented. Data on distribution around the world and in Azerbaijan are given. This study is based on a generalization of all available literature data. Messor laboriosus Santschi, 1927 is recorded for the first time for Azerbaijan.
Topics: fauna, Messor laboriosus, new record, Azerbaijan
Mollusca are the second-largest phylum of invertebrates after Arthropoda and may play a role as an intermediate host for parasites. To determine the morphological features of land snails (including Assyriella ceratomma, Jaminia isseliana, Helix lucorum and Euomphalia pisiformis) from North-west of Iran (Urmia city), the specimens were collected during 2015-2017. After extraction, the radulas were stained using Mallory II and the shell morphology and teeth formula were studied. A significant...
Topics: Iran, Land snails, Morphology, Radula, Shell, Urmia
This is particularly apparent within the insects that show high variations in genitalic form between closely related species. Static allometry is one of the effective approaches for quantification of such variation. Despite the crucial roles of the parasitic Hymenoptera in the ecosystems, little is known about the sexual selection in this order, compared with other insect orders. We examined the allometry of different morphological traits in 35 males and 35 females of Habrobracon hebetor (Say,...
Topics: Insect’s evolution, Sexual selection, Habrobracon hebetor, Intraspecific variety, Morphology
Platyceps rhodorachis (JAN, 1863) and P. karelini (BRANDT, 1838) are both members of the P. rhodorachis complex species, which is widely distributed in Iran and includes many local populations in the country. These two species are molecularly and to some extent morphologically valid. However, hybrids between P. karelini and P. rhodorachis have been described, but so far their ecological differentiation have not been evaluated. In this study, the ecological niche models was predicted for these...
Topics: Platyceps, Common Cliff Racer, Ecological niche modeling, Niche differentiation, Snake
Landmark-Based Geometric Morphometric Methods were used for the first time to quantitatively assess shape variations of the third epimeral plate (Ep3) of six Gammarus species (G. lordeganensis, G. parthicus, G. pretzmanni, G. pseudosyriacus, Gammarus sp1 and Gammarus sp2.) from five different localities in Iran. Two landmarks and 10 semi-landmarks on the posterior, anterior and inferior margins of the Ep3 were digitized on 78 adult male specimens. Shape diversity of samples and discrimination...
Topics: Gammarus, third epimeral plate, geometric morphometrics, shape variation
Paraimene tuberculata Javed & Ahmed, 1988, the type species of the genus is redescribed, photographed and illustrated, based on material from the Gulf of Oman. This species is distinguished from all other species of the genus by pereonites 2–4 bearing 3 rounded tubercles, pereonites 5–7 with 3 rounded and 2 elongated tubercles, and a pleotelson with 7 elongated tubercles on dorsal surface. This species is the only known member of the genus that occurs Indian Ocean from Pakistan coasts...
Topics: Isopoda, Sphaeromatidae, Paraimene, Gulf of Oman, Iran
A review of the Snake-eyed Skink Ablepharus Fitzinger, 1823 is presented. The specific character of Ablepharus involves a lack of movable eyelids, with the lower eyelid fused to the upper one, forming a transparent spectacle covering the eye. The genus Ablepharus occurs in southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, and Central Asian Republics (from the Mediterranean Sea coasts to northwest India), including 11 valid species: A. anatolicus Schmidtler, 1997, A. bivittatus (Ménétries, 1832), A. budaki...
Topics: Ablepharus, Scincidae, Systematics, Distribution, Iran
We studied inter and intra-specific morphometrical variability across six species/subspecies of Chrotogonus Serville, 1838 (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae) consisting on Chrotogonus homalodemus homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. trachypterus trachypterus (Blanchard, 1836), C. trachypterus robertsi Kirby, 1914, C. trachypterus (Blanchard, 1836), and C. turanicus Kuthy, 1905 from Sindh, Pakistan. The investigation was based on a comparative study of external...
Topics: Chrotogonus, interspecific, intraspecific, variations, dimorphism
Based on the examination of the materials collected by LED light trap in 2021, from south of Iran (Kerman province), a rare moth species belonging to Xyleninae subfamily (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), Rhiza stenoptera (Boursin), is newly recorded for the country. The external and the genital characters of this species are presented and compared with its close relatives, R. schlumbergeri (Püngeler), collected from Sistan-va-Balouchestan province, Iran and R. commoda, a widely distributed species in...
Topics: catalogue, Iran, new record, Pseudohadenina, Rhiza.
The present study investigates the occurrence and the identification of tick species infesting wild songbirds in northern Iran. Totally, 342 songbirds belonging to 15 families and 37 species were captured and examined for tick infestation during 2015-2016. Of which, 70 specimens were infested by ticks (infestation rate = 20.46%). Three tick species detached from examined birds and identified as follow: Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758), Hyalomma sp., and Rhipicephalus sp. The most common one was...
Topics: passerine birds, ixodid, Ixodes ricinus, tick infestation
Iran possesses about 241 species of reptiles, which 55 species of them (22.8%) are endemic to Iran. Agamidae is the important family of reptile in Iran with 22 species, which is poor in terms of chromosomal studies. In this paper, karyological survey was made for four species of the family Agamidae by bone marrow cell preparations. Karyotype of male and female of Laudakia caucasia (2n=34) was consisted of 6 pairs macro and 11pairs of microchromosomrs. Karyotype of Laudakia nupta nupta (2n=36)...
Topics: Agamid, Chromosome, Iran, Karyotype, Lizards
In this checklist 163 aquatic beetles species from 11 families belonging to 46 genera that have been recorded from Azerbaijan are presented. Dytiscidae includes maximum numbers of species This study is based on a generalization of all available literature data
Topics: aquatic beetles, Azerbaijan, fauna, distribution
Although mayflies are the key elements to assess the health value of freshwaters, their biodiversity in the Middle East, in particular in Iran, is poorly studied. Baetis braaschi belongs to the subgenus Rhodobaetis Jacob, 2003, with a wide distribution in Europe and Western Asia. The taxonomy of B. braaschi has always been source of disagreement as many species have so far been described by researchers and were synonymized later. The species, Baetis braaschi, is investigated here, using...
Topics: mayflies, cox1, Iran, distribution, redescription
Sea Stars are one of the most incredible creatures in the coastal and open waters. In this study, 11 species of starfishes have been identified which belonging to six genera and five families in northern islands of Persian Gulf during May 2017 to September 2018. Among the species, Astropecten hemprichi (Müller & Troschel, 1842), Astropecten indicus (Döderlein, 1888), Astropecten polyacanthus polyacanthus (Muller and Troschel, 1842), Astropecten polyacanthus phragmorous (Muller and...
Topics: Sea stars, morphology, Iran, systematic, Echinodermata
Snakes are among the predatory reptiles in the wild. Due to the importance of knowing the habitats of these reptiles and their distribution, this study has been done. During the study, the specimen snake was found in the garden of a house in the region of Afus, of Fereydan County, in the west of Isfahan province. The city of Afus is 2800 meters above the sea level, on the roof of Iran. Afus is located at 50°5’, 646 East longitude, and at 33°1’, 464 North Latitude. Afus is a mountainous...
Topics: Platyceps ventromaculatus, Fereydan, Afus, Snake
The genus Trapelus Cuvier, 1817, belonging to the subfamily Agaminae, is described with 13 species. There are absolutely four species in Iran: T. agilis, T. ruderatus, T. sanguinolentus and T. persicus. Within the vast distribution range of Trapelus, current and past climate and vicariance events have significantly influenced their diversification patterns and distributions. Recently, the first and the most comprehensive assessment based on molecular genetic analyses within T. ruderatus in...
Topics: species, Iranian plateau, systematics, Zagros Mountain.
Habitat eradication and loss of animal species have created a new international hazard for wildlife conservation. National parks are considered as suitable places that can serve dual functions of biodiversity conservation and ecotourism. As recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and ISAG, microsatellites have been used for animal biodiversity assessment. For this reason, Iranian urials population genetic diversity was studied by analyzing of 10 microsatellite markers in 75...
Topics: Wild sheep, Urial, Genetic Diversity, Microsatellites, Iran
Geographical diversity appears in the phenotype of different populations of a given species and specific geographical factors are directly or indirectly involved in this variation. Due to their wide distribution range, snakes of the genus Platyceps Blyth, 1860 are wonderful case studies for morphological evaluation. In this study, 49 specimens of the Platyceps rhodorachis-ventromaculatus species complex in four geographic areas from Iran were examined using morphological characters. The results...
Topics: Platyceps rhodorachis, Platyceps ventromaculatus, Colubridae, Morphology, Phenotypic, Iran
The current survey was conducted on occurrence and distribution of long-tailed marmot, Marmota caudata, in Badakhshan Province, situated in the northeast of Afghanistan. Marmota caudata is one of the largest rodents in the cold desert habitats, and an important prey for endangered carnivores. Line transect method was used to collect specimens in the study area. A total of 761 individuals of long-tailed marmot, were observed in this region during 2020 and 2021. The presence of marmots was...
Topics: Population density, Abundance, Arghanjkhah, Kashim, High-altitude mammals
Two families of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae, symbiotically associated with Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus bacteria, are effective biological control agents of insect pests. Native isolates are likely to be better candidates for insect pest control than exotic specimens due to their adaptation to native environmental conditions. In this study, Steinernema feltiae isolate FUM221, was recovered from soil samples collected from the Ardabil Province, Iran....
Topics: Characterization, Entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema, Survey, Taxon, Xenorhabdus.
Capricornis sumatraensis Bechstein, the only sub-species of Serow found in Nepal, is a threatened species distributed across protected mountainous areas. In this study, we conducted a preliminary systematic survey to record the presence or absence of C. sumatraensis, and used satellite imagery, topo-maps, and field data to analyze habitat suitability and vegetation preference using MAXENT and ArcGIS. We also conducted focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys, and key informant surveys to...
Topics: Conservation, Distribution, Habitat preference, IVI, Threats
Agroecosystems containing edaphic Mesostigmata are considered important predators of nematodes, collembola, and insects, and those living on plants may be effective at controlling pests like spider mites. In this research study we provide new information about Edaphic Mesostigmata mites known from Isfahan in central Iran based on new field collection. In this publication, we give records of thirty-two edaphic species belong to 13 families, and 25 genera collected in Isfahan province (Iran),...
Topics: Mesostigmata, new records, distribution, Iran, Agroecosystem
Armada nilotica A. Bang-Haas, male specimen is described for the first time and illustration of adult's genitalia are presented. This species is also recorded as new record for the fauna of Iran and diagnosis and description of the newly recorded species are given. Bionomics and distribution of Iranian Armada species are presented and an identification key is provided. The tribe Armadini comprises nine genera worldwide, all found in the arid and semiarid zones. The genus Armada is represented...
Topics: Acontiinae, Armada, moth, new record, taxonomy
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