Taxonomic remarks on Barbus moulouyensis Pellegrin, 1924 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae) with the description of a new species of Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843 from Morocco

The taxonomy of Barbus Cuvier and Cloquet, 1816 has been reviewed in the last years and as consequence some species traditionally included in genus Barbus sensu lato have been assigned to different genera. In North Africa the species of the former genus Barbus have been included in the genera Luciobarbus Heckel, 1843, Carasobarbus Karaman, 1971 and Enteromius Cope, 1867. We studied populations of the former genus Barbus of the Moulouya river basin in Morocco through molecular, morphometric, and osteological data. Our data clearly showed that populations from Moulouya river basin described originally as Barbus moulouyensis Pellegrin, 1924 belong to the genus Carasobarbus and not to Luciobarbus. Moreover, populations of the genus Luciobarbus exist in the Moulouya river basin and could not be assigned to any previously described species. Consequently, we describe a new Luciobarbus species from the Moulouya river basin