New osteological and morphological data of four species ofAphaniops(Teleostei;Aphaniidae)

Charmpila, Eleni A.; Teimori, Azad; Freyhof, Jörg; Weissenbacher, Anton und Reichenbacher, Bettina (2020): New osteological and morphological data of four species ofAphaniops(Teleostei;Aphaniidae). In: Journal of Applied Ichthyology, Bd. 36, Nr. 5: S. 724-736

Abstract

Aphaniops dispar, widespread around the Arabian Peninsula, was recently separated in four species (A. dispar,A. hormuzensis,A. kruppi,A. stoliczkanus) by molecular results and colour patterns, but the morphological differences are small and call for more studies. Here we report differences in skeleton and median fin osteology of these species. In addition, we introduce the term 'modified caudal vertebra' to describe caudal vertebrae that are not directly associated with caudal ray support but are visibly modified from a 'usual' caudal vertebra.Aphaniops hormuzensis, an endemic species to southern Iran, has a significantly higher number of modified caudal vertebrae compared to the more widespreadA. stoliczkanusandA. dispar, and also toA. kruppi. This is a surprising result as the caudal skeleton and related structures of the posterior caudal vertebral column have yielded successful results in separating between families or genera, but there are only a few studies that have examined these structures for their role in species diagnosis. Our study also highlights that state-of-the-art methods in X-raying and improved staining procedures assist in the discrimination of superficially similar species.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• ISSN: 0175-8659
• Sprache: Englisch