Investigation of Selected Habitat Range of the Western Crested Loach Paracobitis hircanica (Mousavi-Sabet et al., 2015) in the Zarin-Gol River, Golestan Province

A fish species prefer a particular habitat which provides its biological requirements, hence, understanding their habitat use and preferences are crucial for their effective management and protection. This research was accompanied to evaluate the habitat use and selection patterns of Paracobitis hicanica an endemic fish in Zarin Gol River. The river was sampled at 12 stations in spring 2016. A number of environmental variables, including water depth, width, elevation, velocity, substrate type and slope and the relative abundance of P.hicanica were recorded at each station. Based on the results, the habitat use by this species in Zarin Gol River was in altitudes of 250-810 meters above sea level, slopes of 9-26.5 %, flow rate of 0.4-1 m/s, widths of 1.5-8.5 m and depths of 0.1-0.6 m. The highest value of the standardized habitat selectivity indices for Western Crested loach in Zarin Gol River were related to the with elevation (490-570 m), slop (16.5-19 %), velocity (0.7-0.8 m), width (4.3-5.7 m), depth (0.1-0.2 m) and bed rock substrate. This study provides the habitat use and environmental factors affecting on the distribution of P.hicanica in the Zarin Gol River.