Freshwater Fishes of Iran  


Species Accounts - Marine Fishes List

Revised:  26 June 2007

Back to Introduction and List of Families     

Introduction

Fishes entering fresh water from the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman are included in this file. The arrangement of families follows Nelson (1994). Farsi names are known for fish from marine environments and can be found in Sadeghi (2002).

Family Carcharhinidae

See the file on Carcharhinidae in the freshwater Species Accounts for details of  Carcharhinus leucas, a shark in Iranian rivers.

Carcharhinus dussumieri
(Valenciennes in Müller and Henle, 1839)

This species is recorded from the Mehran River, Hormozdgan (26°53'N, 55°17'E) on 19 March 1978 where about 30 specimens were found dead. They probably entered the river on a freshet when salinity might have approached sea water and became trapped behind rapids as the water level fell. Increasing salinity and temperature could have caused the mortality. The water was at 21°C and conductivity was 43 milliSiemens. The Farsi name of this species is kooseh chaneh safid.

Family Engraulidae

See the file on Engraulidae in the freshwater Species Accounts for details of a Caspian Sea species.

Genus Thryssa
Cuvier, 1829

Thryssa hamiltoni
(Gray, 1835)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b) and Hussain et al. (1997; 2001) and from the Hawr al Hammar Marsh in Iraq (Al-Hassan, 1988). No Iranian record except a verbal one of specimens being caught between Ahvaz and Khorramshahr. A Thryssa species is reported from the Bahmanshir River as sheegh in Farsi (Marammazi, 1995).

Thryssa purava
(Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab and the Hawr al Hammar in Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949) (but see under Thryssa whiteheadi), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). It may be that fishes identified as this species were Thryssa whiteheadi, as with the material identified by Misra (1949) and re-identified by Whitehead et al. (1988); some later reports may be repeating Misra's record. No Iranian record.

Thryssa setirostris
(Broussonet, 1782)

Reported from Basrah, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b) as Clupea setirostris but this is probably a mis-identification as Whitehead et al. (1988) do not record this species from the Persian Gulf. No Iranian record.

Thryssa vitirostris
(Gilchrist and Thompson, 1908)

Engraulis vitirostris is reported from the Karun River, Khuzestan by Mokhayer (1981).

Thryssa whiteheadi
Wongratana, 1983

Reported from the Hawr al Hammar, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949) as Thrissocles purava, but re-identified by Whitehead et al. (1988). The record of Thryssa malabarica (Bloch, 1795) from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near the Iranian border by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) may also be this species as Thryssa malabarica does not occur in the Persian Gulf (Whitehead et al., 1988). Reported from the lower Mand River in Bushehr Province at 28º07'N, 51º24'E by M. Rabbaniha (pers. comm., 1995).

Family Chirocentridae

Genus Chirocentrus
Cuvier, 1816

Chirocentrus dorab
(Forsskål 1775)

Reported from the Bahmanshir River of Iran with the Farsi name of  kharow by Marammazi ( 1995). Also called kharu baleh siah in Farsi.

Chirocentrus nudus
Swainson, 1839

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). No Iranian record. Called kharu baleh safid in Farsi.

Family Clupeidae

See the file on Clupeidae in the freshwater Species Accounts for details of  Caspian Sea species.

Genus Hilsa
Regan, 1917

Hilsa kelee
(Cuvier, 1829)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab in Iraq, 25 km south of Basrah, near the border with the Iranian province of Khuzestan (N. A. Hussain, in litt., 1997). No Iranian record.

Genus Ilisha
Richardson, 1846

An Ilisha species is recorded from the Bahmanshir River (Marammazi, 1995) as picow in Farsi.

Ilisha compressa
Randall, 1995

Reported from the Shatt al Arab in Iraq near the border with the Iranian province of Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961) as Ilisha filigera (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847). This was a mis-identification as this species is not present in the Persian Gulf (Whitehead, 1985). Randall (1995a) refers Khalaf's material to a new species and presumably records by Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976) and Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) are also this new species originally described from Kuwait Bay, Kuwait. No Iranian record.

Ilisha megaloptera
(Swainson, 1839)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab in Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). May be a misidentification as this species is not present in the Persian Gulf (Whitehead, 1985). No Iranian record.

Genus Nematalosa
Regan, 1917

Nematalosa nasus
(Bloch, 1795)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar in Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Menon (1956), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b, 1976), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan (1988), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989). Note that fish identified as N. nasus from the Persian Gulf may be other species, N. resticularia and N. persara (see Nelson and McCarthy (1995) for descriptions). It is reported from the Bahmanshir River of Iranian Khuzestan with the Farsi name gowaf by Marammazi (1995). Also called gowaf roshteh dar in Farsi.

Family Ariidae

Genus Arius
Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1840

Arius thalassinus
(Rüppell, 1837)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar in Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Menon (1956), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), and from the Bahmanshir in Iran with the Farsi name gorbeh mahi by Marammazi (1995). Also called gorbeh mahi bozorg.

Family Plotosidae

Genus Plotosus
Lacepède, 1803

Plotosus lineatus
(Thunberg, 1787)

Reported from the mouth of the Shatt al Arab at Fao (= Faw) in Iraq (a marine environment) near Iranian Khuzestan by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). This species rarely penetrates fresh waters but can be acclimated to freshwater aquaria. There is no freshwater record for the Persian Gulf area and no Iranian record.

Family Mugilidae

Species resident in fresh waters are dealt with under a separate file (see Mugilidae) in the Species Accounts which also contains more information about the family and the genus Liza.

Liza carinata
(Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1836)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by N. A. Hussain (in litt., 1995) and Hussain et al. (1997; 2001). Placed in the genus Chelon Rose, 1793 in Randall (1995b). No Iranian record.

Liza macrolepis
(Smith, 1849)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Kuronuma and Abe (1986) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). A species, possibly this one, is known from the Dez and Karun rivers. Reported from the lower Mand River in Bushehr Province 28°14'N, 51°51'E, 28°26'N, 51°35'E, 28°11'N, 51°32'E and 28°07'N, 51°24'E by M. Rabbaniha (pers. comm., 1995). Placed in the genus Chelon Rose, 1793 in Randall (1995b).

Liza oligolepis
(Bleeker, 1859) 

Reported from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). Presumably a mis-identification since Thomson (1997) regards this species as a synonym of Liza parmata (Cantor, 1850) which has a west Pacific Ocean distribution. No Iranian record.

Family  Belonidae

Genus Strongylura
van Hasselt, 1824

Strongylura strongylurus
(van Hasselt, 1823)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar in Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989). No Iranian record. Called manghar mahi in Farsi.

Family Hemiramphidae

Genus Hemiramphus
Cuvier, 1816

and

Genus Hyporhamphus
Gill, 1859

Hemiramphus and Hyporhamphus spp.

Two records for Hemiramphus (sic) species were Hemiramphus gaimardi Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847 (a synonym of Hyporhamphus quoyi (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847 according to Parin et al. (1980)) recorded by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b) from the Hawr al Hammar near Iranian Khuzestan and Hemiramphus xanthopterus Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847 (now placed in the genus Hyporhamphus) recorded by Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975a, 1975b, 1976) from the Shatt al Arab near Iranian Khuzestan. These records may have referred to Hemiramphus marginatus (Forrskål, 1775) since the two species are not known from the Persian Gulf (Parin et al., 1980). Collette (1982) suggests that the records of H. xanthopterus may be Hyporhamphus limbatus (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847) or Hyporhamphus sindensis (Regan, 1905), both of which are known to enter fresh water; H. xanthopterus is known only from Vembanad Lake in Kerala, southwest India. Bailey (1951) gives information on the description dates for Cuvier and Valenciennes species. There are no confirmed Iranian records for these species although a species, possibly H. limbatus, is reported from the Karun River at Khorramshahr.

A. Afzali (pers. comm., 2002) reports seeing a hemiramphid in Minab (= Esteghlal) Dam.

Genus Rhynchorhamphus
Fowler, 1928

Rhynchorhamphus georgii
(Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1847)

This species was recorded by Kanazawa (1955), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b, 1976), and Hussain et al. (1989) from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar near Iranian Khuzestan. No Iranian record.

Family Platycephalidae

Genus Platycephalus
Bloch, 1795

Platycephalus indicus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq or as entering fresh water in Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). Reported from the lower Mand River in Bushehr Province at 28°07'N, 51°24'E by M. Rabbaniha (pers. comm., 1995) and from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name zamin kan (Marammazi, 1995).

Family Serranidae

Genus Epinephelus
Bloch, 1793

Epinephelus tauvina
(Forsskål, 1775)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near the border with Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961). Young of some serranids enter estuaries but this cannot be considered as a freshwater resident. No Iranian record.

Family  Apogonidae

Genus Apogon
Lacepède, 1801

Apogon nigripinnis
Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1828

Reported from Basrah on the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b) as Apogon thurstoni Day, 1888 but Relyea (1981) and Kuronuma and Abe (1986) refer Persian Gulf specimens to nigripinnis. The specimen may have come from a fish market rather than the river. No Iranian record.

Family Sillaginidae

Genus Sillago
Cuvier, 1816

Sillago sihama
(Forsskål, 1775)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989; 1997). Reported from the lower Mand River in Bushehr Province at 28º07'N, 51º24'E by M. Rabbaniha as Sillago sillago, presumably this species (pers. comm., 1995) and from the Bahmanshir River with the Farsi name hassun (Marammazi, 1995) 

Family Carangidae

An unidentified species in the genus Carangoides is reported from the lower Mand River in Bushehr Province at 28°07'N, 51°24'E by M. Rabbaniha (pers. comm., 1995).

Genus Alepes
Swainson, 1839

Alepes djedaba
(Forsskål, 1775)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). No Iranian record.

Genus Caranx
Lacepède, 1801

Caranx sexfasciatus
Quoy and Gaimard, 1824

Recorded by Khalaf (1961) as entering rivers without specific reference to Iraq. Young are known to enter estuaries elsewhere but no confirmed Iranian record. A Caranx species is recorded from the Bahmanshir River (Marammazi, 1995) as geesh in Farsi.

Family Leiognathidae

Genus Leiognathus
Lacepède, 1802

Leiognathus fasciatus
(Lacepède, 1803)

Recorded from the Basrah on the Shatt al Arab in Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b). Members of this family are known to enter brackish waters but it is unclear whether the specimen was caught in the Shatt al Arab or bought at the fish market in Basrah. Reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name panzjari by Marammazi (1995) as a Leiognathus sp.

Family Haemulidae

Genus Pomadasys
Lacepède, 1802

Pomadasys argyreus
(Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1833)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961). No Iranian record.

Family Gerreidae

Genus Gerres
Quoy and Gaimard, 1824

Gerres limbatus
Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830

Recorded from the Mand River near Kaki at 28º26'15.6"N, 51º30"10.0"E by Kai Borkenhagen (pers. comm., 16 April 2007).

Family Sparidae

See also Sparidae in the Species accounts for information on a species common in fresh waters.

Acanthopagrus berda
(Forsskål, 1775)

Reported from southern Iraq fresh waters near Iranian Khuzestan including the Tigris River at Baghdad, the Hawr al Hammar and the Shatt al Arab (Kennedy, 1937; Khalaf, 1961; Mahdi, 1962; Al-Nasiri and Hoda, 1975b; 1976; Al-Hassan and Hussain, 1985; Al-Hassan et al., 1989), as Petrus belayewi Misra in Misra and Hora (1943) (probably a synonym) from rivers and hawrs of Iraq and the Shatt al Arab (Hora and Misra, 1943; Khalaf, 1961; Mahdi, 1962) and as Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830) (a synonym) reported from the Shatt al Arab by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan et al. (1989) and Hussain et al. (1989). No Iranian record.

Family Polynemidae

Genus Eleutheronema
Bleeker, 1862

Eleutheronema tetradactylum
(Shaw, 1804)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b, 1976), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989). It is reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name rashgou (Marammazi, 1995). Also called rashgu ma'muli in Farsi.

Family Sciaenidae

Genus Argyrosomus
de la Pylaie, 1835

Argyrosomus amoyensis
(Bleeker, 1863)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan as Pseudosciaena sina (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830) by Khalaf (1961) and as Johniopse (sic) sina by Al-Hassan et al. (1989) but Trewavas (1977) refers Khalaf's specimens to this species. No Iranian record.

Genus Johnieops
Lal Mohan, 1972

Johnieops aneus
(Bloch, 1793)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Hussain et al. (1989) as Johnius aneus. This species does not occur in the Persian Gulf (Lal Mohan in Fischer and Bianchi, 1984) and this record is probably a mis-identification. No Iranian record.

Genus Johnius
Bloch, 1793

Johnius belangerii
(Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830)

This species is reported in the estuary of the Zohreh River (which drains to the northern Persian Gulf in Iran) where it is caught mostly in autumn and is less common than true freshwater species (Marammazi, 1994). Also recorded from the Bahmanshir River (Marammazi, 1995). However Fischer and Bianchi (1984) do not record this species from the Persian Gulf, restricting it to the west coast of India and eastwards, and the identity of the fish referred to by Marammazi (1994) remains to be determined.

Johnius carutta
Bloch, 1793

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) although this species is apparently not found in the Persian Gulf (Trewavas, 1977; Lal Mohan in Fischer and Bianchi, 1984). No Iranian record.

Genus Otolithes
Oken, 1817

Otolithes ruber
(Schneider in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), and Hussain et al. (1989). Fishes identified as Otolithes argenteus Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830 are this species. It is reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name shoorideh by Marammazi (1995). 

Family Terapontidae

Genus Terapon
Cuvier, 1816

Terapon theraps
(Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829)

Recorded by Khalaf (1961) as entering rivers without specific reference to Iraq. Known to enter brackish waters elsewhere but no Iranian record.

Family Gobiidae

See also Gobiidae in the Species Accounts for information on gobies resident in fresh waters.

Genus Acentrogobius
Bleeker, 1874

Acentrogobius dayi
Koumans, 1955

The identification of this species from Basrah, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan is tentative (Coad, 1991b). It is based on 2 specimens from fresh water near Basrah at Almotoa (probably Al-Mutawwi'ah, 30°23'N, 48°10'E) collected by A. H. Al-Rawi on 17 June 1960 (KU 10535, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence). No Iranian record.

Genus Bathygobius
Bleeker, 1878

Bathygobius fuscus
(Rüppell, 1830)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by N. A. Hussain (in litt., 1995) and Hussain et al. (1997). No Iranian record.

Genus Scartelaos
Swainson, 1839

Scartelaos tenuis
(Day, 1876)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab at Faw, Iraq (probably a marine habitat) near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). This species was considered to be a synonym of Scartelaos viridis (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822) (correctly S. histophorus (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1837) according to Relyea (1981) but Koumans (1955) and Murdy (1989) regard it as distinct. No Iranian record.

Family Ephippididae

Genus Drepane
Cuvier in Cuvier and Valencinnes, 1831

Drepane punctata
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961) and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). No Iranian record.

Family Scatophagidae

Genus Scatophagus
Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1831

Scatophagus argus
(Bloch, 1788)

Reported as entering rivers in Iraq and from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989). Reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name dokhtar nakhoda (Marammazi, 1995).

Family Siganidae

Genus Siganus
Forsskål 1775

Siganus sp.

Reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name sayfi (Marammazi, 1995).

Family Stromateidae

Genus Pampus
Bonaparte, 1837

Pampus argenteus
(Euphrasen, 1788)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). No Iranian record.

Pampus chinensis
(Euphrasen, 1788)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), and Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976). No Iranian record.

Family Soleidae

Genus Euryglossa
Kaup, 1858

Euryglossa orientalis
(Schneider in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)

Reported from the Shatt al Arab and Hawr al Hammar, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Misra (1949), Kanazawa (1955), Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1975b, 1976), Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985), Al-Hassan et al. (1989), and Hussain et al. (1989). No Iranian record.

Genus Solea
Quensel, 1806

Solea heinii
Steindachner, 1907

Reported from Basrah on the Shatt al Arab in Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Nader and Jawdat (1977a, 1977b). It is not clear whether the specimen was from a fish market rather than the river itself. This species is not reported from the Persian Gulf by Menon in Fischer and Bianchi (1984) and may be a mis-identification. No Iranian record.

Family Cynoglossidae

Genus Cynoglossus
Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822

Cynoglossus arel
(Schneider in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) and Al-Hassan et al. (1989). Cynoglossus macrolepidotus (Bleeker, 1801) reported by Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985) is a synonym of this species (Menon in Fischer and Bianchi, 1984).  It is reported from the Bahmanshir River, Khuzestan with the Farsi name of zaban gavi by Marammazi (1995). 

Cynoglossus lingua
(Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822)

Recorded from the Shatt al Arab, Iraq near Iranian Khuzestan by Khalaf (1961), Al-Nasiri and Hoda (1976), and Al-Hassan and Hussain (1985). No Iranian record.

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