Esmaeilius sophiae (Heckel, 1847)
Persian killifish, Soffia toothcarp
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Lebias sophiae Heckel, 1847; Aphanius sophiae (Heckel, 1847); Cyprinodon pluristriatus Jenkins, 1910; Aphanius pluristriatus (Jenkins, 1910); Aphanius mesopotamicus Coad, 2009; Aphanius arakensis Teimori, Esmaeili, Gholami, Zarei & Reichenbacher, 2012; Aphanius kavirensis Esmaeili, Teimori, Gholami & Reichenbacher, 2014
Conservation Status
Globally Rediscovered (Keivany et al., 2012; Freyhof et al., 2025:744)
Distribution & Habitat
Iran & Iraq
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Heckel, J. J. (1847). Naturhistorischer Anhang. [Various subtitles.]. In: Russegger, J. von: Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika, .... unternommen in den Jahren 1835 bis 1841. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart. 2(3): 207-357.
Other references:
Coad, B. W. (1996). Systematics of the tooth-carp genus Aphanius Nardo, 1827 (Actinopterygii: Cyprinodontidae) in Fars Province, southern Iran. Biologica Bratislava 51: 163-172.
Coad, B. W. (2009). A new species of tooth-carp, Aphanius mesopotamicus, from Iran and Iraq (Actinopterygii, Cyprinodontidae). Zookeys 31: 149-163. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.31.131
Esmaeili, H. R., Teimori, A., Gholami, Z. and Reichenbacher, B. (2014). Two new species of the tooth-carp Aphanius (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae) and the evolutionary history of the Iranian inland and inland-related Aphanius species. Zootaxa 3786: 246-268. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3786.3.2
Esmaeili, H. R., Teimori, A., Gholami, Z., Zarei, N. and Reichenbacher, B. (2012). Re-validation and redescription of an endemic and endangered species, Aphanius pluristriatus (Jenkins, 1910) (Teleostei, Cyprinodontidae), from southern Iran. Zootaxa 3208: 58-67. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3208.1.4
Esmaeili, H. R., Teimori, A., Zarei, F. and Sayyadzadeh, G. (2020). DNA barcoding and species delimitation of the Old World tooth-carps, family Aphaniidae Hoedeman, 1949 (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes). PLOS ONE 15: e0231717. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231717
Freyhof, J. and Yoğurtçuoğlu, B. (2020). A proposal for a new generic structure of the killifish family Aphaniidae, with the description of Aphaniops teimorii (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes). Zootaxa 4810: 421-451. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4810.3.2
Freyhof, Jörg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash and Kaya, Cüneyt. (2025). Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111677811 [pp. 743-744]
Gholami, Z., Esmaeili, H. R., Erpenbeck, D. and Reichenbacher, B. (2014). Phylogenetic analysis of Aphanius from the endorheic Kor River basin in the Zagros Mountains, southwestern Iran (Teleostei: Cyprinodontiformes: Cyprinodontidae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 52: 130-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12052
Jenkins, J. T. (1910). Notes on fish from India and Persia, with descriptions of new species. Records of the Indian Museum (Calcutta) 5(2): 123-140, pl. 6. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.10496
Keivany, Y., Alavi-Yeganeh, M. S. and Seyfabadi, J. (2012). A new record confirms the occurrence of Aphanius mesopotamicus Coad, 2009, in southwestern Iran (Actinopterygii: Cyprinodontidae). Check List 8: 283-285. https://doi.org/10.15560/8.2.283
Keivany, Y. and Esmaeili, H. R. (2013). Threatened fishes of the world: Aphanius farsicus Teimori, Esmaeili and Reichenbacher, 2011 (Cyprinodontidae). Croatian Journal of Fisheries: Ribarstvo 71: 192-194.
Masoudi, Mojtaba et al. (2021). Is the hybridization phenomenon traceable in the otolith and scale of extant Aphanius species? – A case study on hybrid offsprings of Aphanius farsicus X A. sophiae (Teleostei: Aphaniidae). Acta Zoologica 102(2): 182-191.
Teimori, A., Esmaeili, H. R., Gholami, Z., Zarei, N. and Reichenbacher, B. (2012). Aphanius arakensis, a new species of tooth-carp (Actinopterygii, Cyprinodontidae) from the endorheic Namak Lake basin in Iran. Zookeys 215: 55-76. https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.215.1731