Squalius verepi

Common name. Tigris chub.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from S. lepidus in Persian Gulf basin by: ● upper lip projecting beyond lower lip / ○ posterior anal-margin convex / ● 39–46+1–2 lateral-line scales / ○ head blunt / ○ snout short / ○ dorsal head profile straight or slightly convex / ○ scale pockets along lateral midline densely covered by pigments forming a large grey or black crescent-shaped blotch, resulting in a very contrasted reticulate pattern / ○ anal rays orange in life / ○ anal with few or without black pigments in preserved individuals / ○ head length 27–30 % SL / ○ interorbital distance 35–45 % HL / ○ head depth 61–72 % HL / ○ posteriormost point of anal at tip of 3 rd or 5 th branched rays. Size up to 450 mm SL.

Distribution. Tigris and Karun drainages.

Habitat. Small- to medium-sized streams, mostly in mountains and hilly areas.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. In medium-sized rivers often in sympatry with S. lepidus, which inhabits mostly large rivers. Both species occasionally hybridise as mitochondrial DNA of S. lepidus is often found in S. verepi, and there are populations with intermediate morphological character states. Individuals “difficult to identify” by characters given could be such hybrids. Morphological characters proposed to distinguish S. verepi from S. berak could not be confirmed and both are also indistinguishable by their COI sequences. Only few unpublished genomic data indicate that S. verepi might be a valid species.

Further reading. Turan 2022 (description).