Ponticola cyrius (Kessler, 1874)

Ponticola cyrius View in CoL

Common name. Kura goby.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Ponticola entering freshwater in West Asia by: ● predorsal area marbled / ● first dorsal with a dark-brown distal blotch or band / ○ lateral part of upper lip usually swollen / ○ two suborbital transverse rows below suborbital longitudinal row b / ○ lower jaw slightly prognathous / ○ pelvic disc reaching 40–60 % of distance between its origin and anus / ○ 51–74+2–4 scales in midlateral series / second dorsal usually with / ○ usually with 17–18½ branched rays / ○ anal usually with 13½ branched rays / ○ pelvic-disc fraenum with angular lobes whose length is 1 ⁄ 6 – 1 ⁄ 2 of fraenum width at base. Size up to 111 mm SL.

Distribution. Kura drainage from headwaters in Türkiye south to Azerbaijan. Widely reported from Aras, but records questionable.

Habitat. Cold mountain to warm foothill streams. Not found in brackish water or reservoirs.

Biology. Matures at 1–2 and lives for 3 years; spawns May– late August at water temperatures of 11–20°C. Male guard eggs in gravel or rocky burrows. Feeds on a wide range of small invertebrates and fish.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. The distribution of this species in Kura is not fully known, and it potentially occurs in sympatry with P. alasanicus in upper Kura. In the middle and lower Kura, it occurs in sympatry with P. gorlap .

Further reading. Vasil’eva & Vasil’ev 2003c (distribution, description, biology).

Ponticola gorlap ; Tajan drainage, Iran; ~ 150 mm SL.