Comparison of two subspecies of Barbus capito in southern parts of Caspian Sea basin

As for Barbus capito, two subspecies have been reported by L. S. Berg (1949) and other authors. To distinguish these two forms, 35 specimens were examined according to the main reported differences. All of these specimens have been collected in southern parts of Caspian Sea and are part of CMN (Canadian Museum of Nature) fish collection mainly collected by B. W. Coad. To analyze patterns of morphological variation in these specimens, PCA and DFA were used. The main differences were in head length, dorsal body length, caudal length and barbells length. There were no distinguishable characters for separating these two forms into two species. Considering other differences, the head length was not stable and could not be regarded as a distinctive character. However, in south of Caspian Sea, in addition to typical B. capito there were variations within this species with bigger head, longer caudal fork and longer pectoral.