Oxynoemacheilus chomanicus, Kamangar, Prokofiev, Ghaderi & Nalbant, 2014

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 496-497

Oxynoemacheilus chomanicus

Common name. Choman loach.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Oxynoemacheilus in Tigris drainage by: ○ dorsal profile straight / ○ caudalpedunclewithveryindistinct, fuzzybarsorvertically elongated blotches / ○ flank completely covered by scales / ○ caudal slightly emarginate / ○ lateral line complete, terminating behind vertical of anal base or at caudal base / ○ suborbital groove absent in adult male / ○ maxillary barbel reaching to anterior eye margin or middle of eye / ○ colour pattern on anterior part of flank not interrupted by unpigmented zone along lateral line / ○ one central pore in supratemporal canal / ○ no median incision in upper lip / ○ interorbital distance 1.4–1.5 times in snout length / ○ caudal–peduncle depth 1.3–1.4 times in caudal–peduncle length / ○ 9+8 branched caudal rays / ○ posterior process of bony air-bladder capsule directed laterally. Size up to 77 mm SL.

Distribution . Iran and Iraq: Headwaters of Choman and Lesser Zab.

Habitat. Moderately fast-flowing waters in streams with gravel and rock substrate.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. VU; appears to be declining within its small range.

Remarks. Oxynoemacheilus chomanicus , O. zarzianus , O. zagrosensis , and loaches identified as O. frenatus are superficially very similar and occur in Lesser Zab drainage. The distribution of these species needs to be better known, and identification may be difficult.

Further reading. Kamangar et al. 2014 (description); Sayyadzadeh & Esmaeili 2020 (discussion of Iranian and Anatolian populations of O. frenatus ).

Figures

Oxynoemacheilus chomanicus

Distribution