Esmaeilius sophiae

Common name. Persian killifish.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Esmaeilius by: ○ male with narrow white anal, dorsal and pelvic margin / ○ male with 8–19, usually 11–16 brown bars on flank / ○ female with irregular set brown or dark-grey spots and blotches / ○ female with a distinctive black spot at caudal base / ○ 25–31 total scales along lateral series. Size up to 42 mm SL.

Distribution. Iraq: Shatt al-Arab, north of Basra. Iran: Springs in Lake Namak basin, lower Karkheh and Karun drainage, Helleh drainage, and springs in Mond drainage, possibly in a qanat near Jahrom. Endorheic basins of Kor, Esfahan, and Sirjan, Western Kavir (Cheshmeh Ali spring), and Gavkhoni marsh in the very lower Zayandeh drainage.

Habitat. Rivers, streams, springs and qanats with stagnant or slowly flowing water, usually with dense submerged vegetation, but also with little or no vegetation and small gravel and pebble substrates.

Biology. Lives up to 4 years, maturing in a few months, usually late in the year of birth. Males establish territories along banks, usually in dense vegetation but also between rocks, which they defend against rivals. Females spawn with one or more males, usually in algae or other vegetation near surface or in gravel beds. Few eggs are laid in substrate during a spawning event. Individual females may produce several clutches in one day. Feeds on algae, detritus and small invertebrates.

Conservation status. LC; one population in Mond drainage extirpated due to introduction of Xiphophorus hellerii and Gambusia holbrooki.

Remarks. Esmaeilius arakensis, E. mesopotamicus, E. pluristriatus, and E. kavirensis are synonyms.

Further reading. Coad 1996 (distribution); Coad 2009a (description as E. mesopotamicus); Esmaeili et al. 2012 (description as A. pluristriatus); Keivany et al. 2012 (rediscovery as E. mesopotamicus); Teimori et al. 2012 (description of E. akarensis); Keivany & Esmaeili 2013 (A. mesopotamicus, conservation); Esmaeili et al. 2014b (description as A. kavirensis); Gholami et al. 2014 (biogeography); Esmaeili et al. 2020b (molecular data and distribution); Freyhof & Yoğurtçuoğlu 2020 (species diversity).