Case Study
Submitted By
| Name: | Iraj Hashemzade Segherlou |
| Institution: | University of Shahre Kord |
| Country: | Iran |
| Email: | irajhashemzade@gmail.com |
Title & Categories
| Case Study Title: | Bar coding of Iranian Blind Cave cyprinid Iranocypris typhlops |
| Focus Theme: | Species conservation, Resolving discrete taxonomic problems, Biotic inventory of multiple taxa in a region or habitat, Biotic inventory of a poorly known taxonomic group, Systematic revision of an entire taxon, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Resolving discrete taxonomic problems, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group |
| Geographic Region: | Middle East, Oceania, Unspecified |
| Habitat Type: | Terrestrial temperate forest, Terrestrial montane, Terrestrial grasslands, Terrestrial cultivated land, Terrestrial - Other, Marine - Other, Intertidal, Freshwater lakes, Freshwater - Other, Estuarine, Coastal wetlands, Terrestrial caves, Terrestrial tropical forest, Terrestrial temperate forest, Terrestrial polar ice/tundra, Terrestrial montane, Terrestrial grasslands, Terrestrial desert, Terrestrial cultivated land, Terrestrial caves, Terrestrial - Other, Freshwater streams, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater marshland, Freshwater lakes |
| Taxonomic Group: | f: Osteichthyes, f: VERTEBRATES, f: VERTEBRATES, d: Arthropoda - Chelicerata |
Scope
1- Clarifying systematic status of Iranian Blind Cave Cyprinid
2- Providing a DNA barcode for the species3- Providing a scientific and accepted basis for conservation of this species
Purpose
The genus, Iranocypris, contains a single species found only in Iran and the characters of the species are therefore the characters of the genus. This blind cave species is placed in a world-wide context by Proudlove (1997a; 1997b). Bruun and Kaiser (1948) believe this species to be related to the genus Barbus, members of which also have two pairs of barbels, although Saadati (1977) considers this unlikely since most Barbus from the Tigris River basin are large fishes (52.6 mm Tl) but miniaturization, an evolutionary process that leads to dwarfed sexually mature organisms, is widespread among vertebrates and best documented in amphibians and fishes (Rüber et al. 2007). To determine the systematic position of, Iranocypris typhlops, among cyprinids, a DNA barcoding analysis of cyprinid fishes of the region should be done. The relationships of cave species, with their reduced characters, are problematic but the three rows of pharyngeal teeth and mouth structures indicate a possible relationship with Garra sp. This fish is known only from a well-like but natural outlet of a subterranean system.
According to our recent morphological studies of this species, there are two morphotypes of this fish in the cave (some of them have a disc but the others lack it). This observation opens the possibility for another hypothesis of coexistence of two species in the cave. It on the 2000 IUCN Red List as VU D2.Background
There have not been any such study on DNA Barcoading of this fish except the traditional studies and reports of Dr. Coad (2000), Saadati (1977), Bruun and Kaiser (1948) and Bakhtiari et. al. (unpublished) find by us.
Logistics
Based on what was noted in scope of this study and with regards to the fact that this species is classified as VU D2 in IUCN 2000 red list, it is necessary for us to clarify the systematic status of it, to provide a scientific basis for its conservation and other than these this species is limited to a unique habitat and there are uncertainties about its species status.