Farsi toothcarp

The Farsi toothcarp (Esmaeilius persicus) is a species of pupfish belonging to the family Aphaniidae. It is endemic to the Maharloo Lake Basin in Iran. It resides primarily in springs, lagoons, and marshes that contain fresh to brackish water.^[1][2]

Farsi toothcarp
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cyprinodontiformes
Family:	Aphaniidae
Genus:	Esmaeilius
Species:	E. persicus
Binomial name
Esmaeilius persicus (J. T. Jenkins, 1910)
Synonyms
Aphanius farsicus Teimori, Esmaeili & Reichenbacher, 2011 Aphanius persicus (J. T. Jenkins, 1910) Cyprinodon persicus J. T. Jenkins, 1910 Lebias persicus (J. T. Jenkins, 1910)

Taxonomy

The species name, persicus, refers to Persia, the ancient name of Iran, where the fish is found. It was originally described as Cyprinodon persicus, and was later placed in the genus Aphanius. Then, in late 2011, a Late Miocene fossil genus Brachylebias was synonymised with Aphanius, which suggested a change to the extant species as there was a B. persicus which preoccupied the name.^[3] One replacement name proposed was farsicus, referring to Iran's Fars province,^[4] but this was not universally accepted. Finally, in 2020, the species was added to a newly erected genus Esmaeilius as Esmaeilius persicus.^[5]

Description

Farsi toothcarp reach approximately 4.9 cm (1.9 in) in total length. Like all members of its genus, the fish shows sexual dimorphism. Females have numerous alternating light and dark bars, which gradually merge with the pigmentation on the rest of their bodies. The caudal fin spot has been described as elongate, oval, or teardrop-shaped, but is almost always shaped in the form of a lozenge.^[2]

Males, on the other hand, are similar in coloring to Esmaeilius sophiae, bearing light flank bars narrower than the alternating dark bars of females. The dorsal, anal, and caudal fins all have clear margins, whereas the rest of the fins are dark in color.^[2]