Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2019) 7(2): 112-116 ISSN: 2322-5270; P-ISSN: 2383-0956 Journal homepage: www.ij-aquaticbiology.com © 2019 Iranian Society of Ichthyology Book Review Fishes of Guilan, By Abbasi Ranjbar K. 2017. 206 p. Iliya Culture Publication, Rasht, ISBN: 978-964-190-517-2. Ali Reza Radkhah, Soheil Eagderi*,1Hadi Poorbagher Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. Article history: Received 7 February 2019 Accepted 1 March 2019 Available online 2 5 April 2019 Keywords: Caspian Sea, Diversity, Guilan, Inland waters. Abstract: The Caspian Sea basin is one of the most important inland water basin of Iran having the most diverse inland water fishes. The present study aimed to review the book entitled "Fish of Guilan'' by Keyvan Abbasi Ranjbar published in 2017. This book provides general and biological information of the reported fishes in Guilan Province that can be used as a reference and identification key by fishermen and researchers who are involved in aquaculture, fisheries and biology. Introduction Iran, with 19 inland water basins, possesses a high fish diversity with 297 species mostly belonging to the Cyprinidae followed by Gobiidae and Nemacheilidae (Esmaeili et al., 2018). The Caspian Sea is one of the most important inland water basin of Iran locating in the Palaearctic region (Coad, 1998; Esmaeili et al., 2014). This basin has the highest diversity of fishes among the Iranian inland waters (Esmaeili et al., 2010, 2017) with 119 species belonging to 63 genera and 18 families, which 19 of them are exotic species (Esmaeili et al., 2014). Cyprinids are the most diversified family (35 species), at the next levels, Gobiidae (19), and Clupeidae (8) have the greatest diversity in the Caspian Sea basin. Due to the high diversity of fishes in this basin, it is necessary to provide a comprehensive work regarding their taxonomic statues, morphological and biological features. Although several studies have been carried out over recent years, e.g. Esmaeili et al. (2014) included a checklist of the Caspian Sea basins, information regarding these fishes is still scanty. Guilan is one of the northern provinces of Iran with great diversity of fish species due to having a long coast of the Caspian Sea and major aquatic ecosystems of Iran such as the Sefid River and Anzali Wetland, *Correspondence: Soheil Eagderi DOI: https://doi.org/10.22034/ijab.v7i2.628 E-mail: soheil.eagderi@ut.ac.ir which provide rich and proper habitats for fishes (Radkhah et al., 2015, 2016; Asadi et al., 2016). Abbasi Ranjbar et al. (1998) published a book entitled “Atlas of Iranian Fishes, Inland waters of the Guilan Province” being updated recently by Abbasi Ranjbar as “Fishes of Guilan” published by Iliya Culture Publication (Rasht, Guilan Province). Considering the importance of fish species in Guilan Province, this study aimed to review this book providing a brief overview of it different sections. The introduction of the book has presented a brief overview of the Caspian Sea basin plus pervious published works. The author has addressed some researches performed on this basin in the recent years. Then, it reviewed previous studies regarding the status of some economically important fishes such as sturgeon, Kilka and bony fishes. In addition, the book has provided some terms and concepts of fish taxonomy and morphology. At the end of this section, an identification keys of the families has been provided. The next section introduces fish families and the species that are found in the Guilan Province, i.e. the species belong to the families of Petromyzontidae, Acipenseridae, Anguillidae, Clupeidae, Cyprinidae, Cobitidae, Nemacheilidae, Siluridae, Esocidae, Salmonidae, Gadidae, 113 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2019) 7(2): 112-115 Table 1. A list of the reported fish species in the Guilan Province (E: Endemic, N: Native, EX: Exotic, T: Translocated). Family Species/subspecies Status Petromyzontidae Petromyzon wagneri N Acipenseridae Acipenser baerii Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Acipenser nudiventris Acipenser persicus Acipenser ruthenus Acipenser stellatus Huso huso Ex N Ex N N N N Anguillidae Anguilla anguilla Ex Clupeidae Alosa braschnikowi Alosa caspia caspia Alosa kessleri Alosa saposhnikovi Alosa sphaerocephala Alosa volgensis Clupeonella caspia Clupeonella engrauliformis Clupeonella grimmi Ex N N N N N N N N Cyprinidae Abramis brama Acanthobrama microlepis Alburnoides samiii Alburnus chalcoides Alburnus filippi Alburnus hohenackeri Ballerus sapa Barbus cyri Blicca bjoerkna Capoeta razii Carassius gibelio Ctenopharyngodon idella Cyprinus carpio Hemiculter leucisculus Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Hypophthalmichthys nobilis Leucaspius delineatus Leuciscus aspius Leusiscus sp. Luciobarbus brachycephalus Luciobarbus capito Luciobarbus mursa Mylopharyngodon piceus Pelecus cultratus Pseudorasbora parva Rhodeus amarus Rutilus caspicus Rutilus kutum Scardinius erythrophthalmus Squalius turcicus Tinca tinca Vimba persa N N E N N N N N N E Ex Ex N, Ex Ex Ex Ex N N ? N N N Ex N Ex N N N N N N N Cobitidae Cobitis saniae Cobitis aurata Sabanejewia caspia N N N 114 Radkhah et al. / Fishes of Guilan Atherinidae, Poeciliidae, Gasterosteidae, Syngnathidae, Percidae, Mugilidae and Gobiidae. In addition, extra information regarding each species are presented, including local name, English name, external characteristics, feeding, reproduction, economical value and how to consume. Some parts of the book need a major review. The taxonomic status of some species such as Alosa caspia Table 1. Continued. Family Species/subspecies Status Nemacheilidae Oxynoemacheilus bergianus E Siluridae Silurus glanis N Pangasiidae Pangasius cf. sanitwongsei Ex Loricariidae Hypostomus plecostomus Ex Esocidae Esox lucius N Salmonidae Oncorhynchus keta Oncorhynchus mykiss Salmo caspius Salmo trutta Stenodus leucichthys Ex Ex N N N Gadidae Lota lota N Atherinidae Atherina caspia N Poeciliidae Gambusia holbrooki Poecilia reticulata Ex Ex Gasterosteidae Gasterosteus aculeatus Pungitius platygaster Ex N Syngnathidae Syngnathus caspius N Percidae Perca fluviatilis Sander lucioperca Sander marinus N N N Mugilidae Chelon auratus Chelon saliens Ex Ex Gobiidae Anatirostrum profundorum Benthophilus abdurahmanovi Benthophilus baeri Benthophilus ctenolepidus Benthophilus granulosus Benthophilus leobergius Benthophilus macrocephalus Benthophilus pinchuk Hyrcanogobius bergi Knipowitschia caucasica Knipowitschia iljini Knipowitschia longecaudata Mesogobius nonultimus Neogobius caspius Neogobius melanostomus Neogobius pallasi Ponticola bathybius Ponticola gorlap Ponticola iranicus Ponticola goebelii Ponticola syrman Proterorhinus nasalis Rhinogobius lindbergi N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N E N N N Ex Serrasalmidae Piaractus brachypomus E Channidae Channa micropeltes E Notopteridae Chitala chitala E Lepisosteidae Genus Atractosteus or Lepisosteus E 115 Int. J. Aquat. Biol. (2019) 7(2): 112-115 volgensis (P. 68; promoted to species level as A. volgensis in Esmaeili et al. (2018)), Acanthalburnus microlepis (P. 75; synonym of Acanthobrama microlepis), Rutilus caspicus (P. 104; synonym of R. lacustris), Ponticola ratan (P. 172; synonym of P. goebelii), Rhinogobius sp. (P. 176; named as R. lindbergii in Sadeghi et al. (2019)) and Cobitis keyvani (P. 112; synonym of C. saniae) are not correct (Neilson and Stepien, 2009; Eagderi et al., 2017; Jouladeh-Roudbar et al., 2017; Esmaeili et al., 2018; Levin et al., 2016). In addition, Capoeta gracilis (P. 85) does not exist in the Caspian Sea basin, hence, the reported C. gracilis has probably been mistaken by C. razii (Esmaeili et al., 2018). Cobitis faridpaki (P. 111) does not exist in Guilan Province, and probably this species has incorrectly been included in the book (Jalili et al., 2015, 2016), and finally an unknown species has been presented in the book as Leuciscus sp. (P. 95), however, its picture does not confirm the claimed species and further investigation is necessary. In the final section, some exotic ornamental fishes have been reported from the natural water bodies of Guilan Province. The author has discussed the negative impacts of these species. These ornamental fishes, including Channa micropeltes, Chitala chitala, Pangasius cf. sanitwongsei and Hypostomus plecostomus (PP: 183-181) are first records in Iranian inland waters, therefore, they are needed to be listed in an updated checklist of Iranian freshwater fishes. Alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula (Lepisosteidae) has also been reported in this province from the Anzali coast, however, it has already been reported from Marivan (Zarivar) Lake (Tigris basin) (Esmaeili et al., 2017). Despite having many positive features, there are still some shortages which we will briefly review them here and suggest them to be addressed in the next edition. There is no information regarding systematic status of the listed species. Providing such data can help to understand the evolutionary processes of fish species in the Caspian Sea basin. There are many exotic fish species reported in the Caspian Sea basin (Esmaeili et al., 2014) but a list of Figure 1. Cover page of the book. 116 Radkhah et al. / Fishes of Guilan them has not been presented in the book as a table or graph. Information such as richness of the families and their distribution could be useful even for general readers. For this purpose, we have provided a table of fishes of Guilan (Table 1). Providing a list of fishes in some provinces of Iran (such as Fars and Guilan provinces) is a useful trend that has been carried out in recent years by the Iranian researches. This book has presented information similar to those provided for other provinces, making better understanding about identification, distribution and conservation of the Iranian freshwater fishes. 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