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Squalius namak, new species, from the endorheic Lake Namak and Kavir basins in Iran, is distinguished from the species of the genus Squalius in the Persian Gulf and the southern Caspian Sea basins by having a wide and thick symphysial knob on the lower jaw, a convex posterior anal-fin margin, a bold, dark-grey or brown, roundish or crescent-shaped blotch at the posterior tip of each flank scale and orange caudal-, anal- and pelvic-fin rays in life. Squalius namak is also characterized by four fixed, diagnostic nucleotide substitutions in the mtDNA COI barcode region.

Among vertebrates, hybridization is common phenomena in cyprinid fishes particularly among closely related species/genera which share common habit and habitat (niche) requirements and desires. In this paper we report presence of two hybrids of Luciobarbus barbulus x Luciobarbus kersin and Luciobarbus barbulus x Luciobarbus xanthopterus from the Tigris River tributaries (the Persian Gulf basin), southwestern Iran. The hybrid specimens were identified on the basis of their intermediate morphological characteristics with the parent species and the position of them in the clade and close genetic distance with their maternal sequences. Our studies showed intermediate characteristics between putative hybrids and their parents. In the putative hybrid of L. barbulus and L. kersin, the general characteristics and morphometric measurements are similar to one parent especially paternal characteristics (L. kersin), although most of the meristic characteristics are similar to maternal characteristics (L. barbulus). The other putative hybrid between L. barbulus and L. xanthopterus show the general appearance for L. barbulus (the putative father) and some meristic characteristics were similar to L. xanthopterus (the putative mother). Low abundance of the hybrids shows that the hybridization might be a random event.

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