Comparison of the caudal skeleton and phylogeny of the genus Garra Hamilton 1822 in Iran using caudal fin skeleton

Among cyprinid family, little information is available about the phylogenetic relationships of the members of genus Garra in Iran. The structure of caudal skeleton as a valuable source in taxonomic studies of fishes can help to determine their systematic position. Hence, this study was conducted to compare the osteological features of caudal fin skeleton and reconstructing phylogenic tree of the Iranian members of genus Garra. For this purpose, five specimens of every selected (except Iran blind carp with two specimens from each morphotype) taxon were cleared and stained to examine the osteological characteristics of their caudal fin skeleton. Also, Kura barbel (Barbus cyri) and Barzam (Capoeta trutta) were designed as outgroup. The results showed that members of Garra constitute a monophyletic group. The results revealed that the caudal skeleton features cannot discriminate the members of genus Garra at the level of species because of small number of extractable characters and their states