Turcichondrostoma, a new genus for the Leuciscidae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from Southwestern Anatolia.

Turcichondrostoma, a new genus, from the Southwestern Anatolia is distinguished by having fewer gill rakers on first gill arch and morphologies of premaxilla and dentary bones. In addition, as a result of the phylogenetic analyses based on combine data set (mtDNA COI + Cytb) sequences (1706 bp.), Turcichondrostoma genus was recovered with high posterior probability value (BI PP:1.0) and strong-supported bootstrap value (ML BP: 100%) among the former Chondrostoma groups. Also, high K2P mean genetic distance values (more than 7.84%) differentiated genus Turcichondrostoma from the other genera of former Chondrostoma group. The results of both morphological-osteological and molecular analyses are congruent with each other. The results of this study revealed that the genus Turcichondrostoma is easily distinguished from the genera in Chondrostoma group.

Molecular systematics and phylogeography of the genus Alburnus Rafinesque, 1820 (Teleostei, Leuciscidae) in Turkey.

In this study, the phylogeny of Alburnus genus distributed in Turkish freshwaters was performed by analyzing mitochondrial cyt b gene (1141 bp) and COI gene (1551 bp) sequences from 1172 samples representing 112 populations of 24 species through their geographical distribution. According to our findings, 20 valid species are distributed in Turkey of which 18 have already been known. While six Alburnus species (A. battalgilae, A. istanbulensis, A. carinatus, A. schischkovi, A. nasreddini ve A. adanensis) have been synonomized, two new species (Alburnus sp.1 and Alburnus sp.2) from Dicle River and Çapraz Stream/Susurluk River have been identified. Extinct species such as A. akili and A. nicaeensis have not been observed in situ. Phylogenetic tree topologies and haplotype network of the 119 cyt b and 80 COI haplotypes detected in Alburnus species have indicated a consensus tree topology containing twenty lineages, each of corresponding to one species, and three Alburnus haplogroups corresponding to the geographical origins: Eastern Anatolia (I), Mediterranean (2) and Western & Northern Anatolia (3). The results indicate that the divergence between those haplogroups may have occurred during the Middle Miocene-Middle Pleistocene periods (from 14.9 to 5.29 million years).

Barbus xanthos, a new barbel from the Southern Aegean basin (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).

Barbus xanthos, a new species, is described from the Esen, Dalaman, Tersakan and Büyük Menderes rivers in south-western Anatolia. It differs from other Barbus species in the adjacent basins by having 53-60 lateral line scales, a weakly ossified last unbranched dorsal-fin ray (about 33-50%), numerous small irregular-shaped black or dark-brown spots smaller than scales, often forming large, black or dark-brown blotches on back and flank in juveniles and adults, and a straight or slightly convex posterior dorsal-fin margin. B. xanthos differs from its most closely related congener, B. pergamonensis, by nine nucleotide substitution sites in the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I barcode region.

Description of a new species of Hemigrammocapoeta (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Lake Isikli, Turkey.

Hemigrammocapoeta menderesensis is distinguished from all other species of Hemigrammocapoeta in Anatolia by the following combination of characters (none unique to the species): lateral line incomplete; 6-17 perforated scales and 36-41 +1-2 scales in lateral series; 7½-8½ scale rows between lateral line and dorsal-fin origin, 3-4 scale rows between lateral series and anal-fin origin; dorsal fin commonly with 7½ branched rays; anal fin with 5½ branched rays; 15-17 gill rakers on the first brachial arch; pharyngeal teeth 2.4.5-5.3.3; mouth small, subterminal, horseshoe shaped and without barbel; lips developed and somewhat fleshy; upper lip not covering nostril gape; lower lip with two lateral lobes and median pad; lateral lobes smaller and shorter than half width of median pad; numerous papillae on lower and upper lips.

A new species of Pseudophoxinus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from Southwestern Anatolia, Turkey.

Pseudophoxinus mehmeti, new cyprinid species from the Alanköy basin in south-western Turkey, is distinguished from all species of Pseudophoxinus in adjacent regions by the combination of the following characters: body slender, its length 1.3-1.5 times its depth; caudal peduncle length 1.6-2.0 times its depth; mouth almost superior, with the tip of the mouth-cleft approximately level with the middle of the pupil; snout with a pointed tip, its length markedly greater than eye diameter; lateral line not complete, with 30-50 perforated scales and 48-60+2 scale rows in lateral series; 11½-13½ scale rows between lateral line and dorsal-fin origin, 3½-5½ scale rows between lateral line and anal-fin origin; dorsal-fin with 6½-7½ branched rays; anal-fin with 6½-7½ branched rays; a distinct black epidermal stripe from eye to caudal-fin base in preserved individuals.

A new Pseudophoxinus (Teleostei, Cyprinidae) species from Asi River Drainage (Turkey).

Pseudophoxinus turani sp. n. is described from the Incesu Spring (Hassa-Hatay) drainage of Asi River, Turkey. It is distinguished from other Eastern Mediterranean Region Pseudophoxinus species by a combination of characters: lateral line incomplete, with 12-25 (commonly 16-21) perforated scales and 38-46+2-3 scales in lateral series (commonly 41-44+2-3); 10-11 scale rows between the lateral line and dorsal-fin origin; 3-4 scale rows between the lateral line and the pelvic-fin origin; dorsal fin with 7½ branched rays; anal fin commonly with 7½ branched rays; 8-11gill rakers on the first branchial arch; dorsal profile markedly convex with marked hump at the nape, ventral profile less convex than dorsal profile; a small, irregular, black blotch on the base of the caudal fin; mouth terminal, with slightly distinct chin, its corner not reaching vertical through anterior margin of eye; snout somewhat long, with rounded tip; and its length greater than eye diameter.

A new Pseudophoxinus (Teleostei, Cyprinidae) species from Southwestern Anatolia, with remarks on the distribution of the genus in western Anatolia.

Pseudophoxinus burduricus sp. n. is described from drainages of Salda and Burdur lakes, southwestern Turkey. It is distinguished from other Anatolian Pseudophoxinus by a combination of characters: lateral line incomplete, with 21-39 (commonly 26-37) perforated scales and 47-57+1-2 scales in lateral series; 10½-12½ scale rows between lateral line and dorsal fin origin, 3-4(5) scale rows between lateral line and the pelvic fin origin; dorsal fin commonly with 7½ branched rays; anal fin commonly with 6½ branched rays; 7-8(9) gill rakers on the first branchial arch; a faint and diffuse epidermal black stripe from eye to caudal fin base in alive and preserved individuals; mouth slightly subterminal, tip of mouth cleft on about level of lower margin of eye; snout rounded, its length greater than eye diameter. Comparison is given with all Pseudophoxinus species from western Anatolia.

Plate tectonics and biogeographical patterns of the Pseudophoxinus (Pisces: Cypriniformes) species complex of central Anatolia, Turkey.

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships of Pseudophoxinus (Cyprinidae: Leuciscinae) species from central Anatolia, Turkey to test the hypothesis of geographic speciation driven by early Pliocene orogenic events. We analyzed 1141 aligned base pairs of the complete cytochrome b mitochondrial gene. Phylogenetic relationships reconstructed by maximum likelihood, Bayesian likelihood, and maximum parsimony methods are identical, and generally well supported. Species and clades are restricted to geologically well-defined units, and are deeply divergent from each other. The basal diversification of central Anatolian Pseudophoxinus is estimated to have occurred approximately 15 million years ago. Our results are in agreement with a previous study of the Anatolian fish genus Aphanius that also shows a diversification pattern driven by the Pliocene orogenic events. The distribution of clades of Aphanius and Pseudophoxinus overlap, and areas of distribution comprise the same geological units. The geological history of Anatolia is likely to have had a major impact on the diversification history of many taxa occupying central Anatolia; many of these taxa are likely to be still unrecognized as distinct.

Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Aphanius (Pisces, Cyprinodontiformes) species complex of central Anatolia, Turkey.

Phylogenetic relationships of a subset of Aphanius fish comprising central Anatolia, Turkey, are investigated to test the hypothesis of geographic speciation driven by early Pliocene orogenic events in spite of morphological similarity. We use 3434 aligned base pairs of mitochondrial DNA from 42 samples representing 36 populations of three species and six outgroup species to test this hypothesis. Genes analyzed include those encoding the 12S and 16S ribosomal RNAs; transfer RNAs coding for valine, leucine, isoleucine, glutamine, methionine, tryptophan, alanine, asparagine, cysteine, and tyrosine; and complete NADH dehydrogenase subunits I and II. Distance based minimum evolution and maximum-likelihood analyses identify six well-supported clades consisting of Aphanius danfordii, Aphanius sp. aff danfordii, and four clades of Aphanius anatoliae. Parsimony analysis results in 462 equally parsimonious trees, all of which contain the six well supported clades identified in the other analyses. Our phylogenetic results are supported by hybridization studies (Villwock, 1964), and by the geological history of Anatolia. Phylogenetic relationships among the six clades are only weakly supported, however, and differ among analytical methods. We therefore test and subsequently reject the hypothesis of simultaneous diversification among the six central Anatolian clades. However, our analyses do not identify any internodes that are significantly better supported than expected by chance alone. Therefore, although bifurcating branching order is hypothesized to underlie this radiation, the exact branching order is difficult to estimate with confidence.