High molecular and morphological changes in Alburnus mossulensis Heckel 1843 populations in Iran (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)

Population variations of southern king fish (A. mossulensis) from Tigris, Persis, Kor and Hormuz basins were investigated using morphological and molecular approaches. Measurement of 39 morphological characters in 110 specimens which were collected from 17 southern rivers showed that significant differences were observed in meristic characters among some populations. The results were in congruent with data from PhiPT index and K2P distance acquired from 1022 nucleotide of cytochrome b gene. According to the results obtained from 17 experimental populations, differences in meristic and molecular characters made Kor river basin population different from Hormuz and Persis sub-basins, while mentioned population was not different morphologically from Tigris sub-basin populations. Moreover, populations from Hormuz and Persis sub-basins were inseparable. Despite low gene flow observed in analysis of molecular variance between Kor basin population and most of other populations, there was no significant correlation between geographic and genetic distances. The morphological and genetic variations revealed among populations of this species might be caused by complex geological history of the region and relative or complete separation of basins from each other. Therefore, according to the data provided by this study, the divergence was evaluated at intra-specific variations.