Journal of Animal Diversity

Journal of Animal Diversity

Endemic freshwater fishes of Iran: an updated species inventory and their conservation status

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lorestan University, 6815144316 Khorramabad, Iran
Abstract
Iran, at the junction of the Palearctic, Saharo-Sindian and Irano-Anatolian regions, hosts a rich and highly endemic inland fish fauna shaped by the complex tectonics of the Zagros and Alborz mountains and numerous isolated endorheic basins. Based on the latest comprehensive checklist of Iran’s freshwater fishes and subsequent taxonomic studies, an updated inventory of the country’s endemic freshwater ichthyofauna is compiled. Of the 316 currently recognized species, 105 (33.2%) are endemic to Iran, belonging to 5 orders, 11 families and 29 genera. The order Cypriniformes is overwhelmingly dominant, comprising 82 species (78.1% of all endemics), followed distantly by Cyprinodontiformes (12 species, 11.4%), and Siluriformes, Gobiiformes and Cichliformes with fewer than five species each. At the family level, Cyprinidae (35 species, 33.3%) and Nemacheilidae (30 species, 28.6%) together accounted for almost two-thirds of the endemic fauna. Endemic species were unevenly distributed among the 19 recognized Iranian drainage basins, with the Tigris basin harboring the highest richness (40 species, 38.1%), followed by the Persis, Caspian Sea, Kor and Hormuz basins. According to the IUCN Red List, 76 endemic species (72.4%) remain Not Evaluated, whereas 29 species (27.6%) have been formally assessed. Among the assessed species, 14 are Endangered, seven are Critically Endangered, two are Vulnerable, four are Least Concern, one is Data Deficient, and one is Extinct in the Wild. These findings align with earlier national estimates of endemism and reaffirm Iran as a major center of freshwater fish endemism in the Middle East, highlighting the urgent need for systematic Red List assessments and basin-scale conservation planning for its mostly unevaluated endemic ichthyofauna.
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