Syngnathus caspius Eichwald, 1831

Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash, Ghanavi, Hamid Reza & Doadrio, Ignacio, 2020, Fig. 4 in Fig. 4 in Fig. 3 in Fig. 21. Sesarmops mora n in Paralbunea dayriti, Zoological Studies 59 (21), pp. 1-303 : 224

Syngnathus caspius Eichwald, 1831 – Native ( Fig. 415)

Syngnathus caspius Eichwald [C. E. von] 1831: 61; Type locality: Balkhan Bay, Caspian Sea. Syntypes: whereabouts unknown.

Common name: Pr: Ney Mahi, En: Caspian pipefish.

Diagnosis: The extremely thin, elongate body encased in bony rings is unique in Iran.

Meristic characters: D: I 30–43, A: 3, P: 11–15, V: I 0–1, TV: 52–59.

Distribution: Caspian Sea basin ( Fig. 416). Found in Anzali Wetland and neighbouring river, Amirkelayee Lagoon near Lahijan, Gorgan Bay, lower reaches of the Caspian Sea rivers, the southeast Caspian Sea, southwest Caspian Sea and south-central Caspian Sea, including the deltas of some rivers.

Ta x o n o m y: B e rg (1 9 4 9) p l a c e d c a s p i u s i n Syngnathus nigrolineatus as subspecies, Coad (1995) synonymized with Syngnathus abaster but Esmaeili et al. (2010) regard as valid and full species.

Conservation: IUCN: Data Deficient ( Pollom 2017).