Gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae) of the oldest and deepest Caspian Sea sub-basin: an evidence-based annotated checklist and a key for species identification Author Zarei, Fatah 0000-0001-5552-4301 Ichthyology and Molecular Systematics Research Laboratory, Zoology Section, Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. & fataahzarei @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 5552 - 4301 fataahzarei@gmail.com Author Esmaeili, Hamid Reza 0000-0002-9736-397X Ichthyology and Molecular Systematics Research Laboratory, Zoology Section, Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. & hresmaeili @ shirazu. ac. ir; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 9736 - 397 X hresmaeili@shirazu.ac.ir Author Abbasi, Keyvan Inland Waters Aquaculture Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Sciences Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Bandar Anzali, Iran. Author Kovačić, Marcelo Natural History Museum Rijeka, Lorenzov prolaz 1, HR- 51000 Rijeka, Croatia. Author Schliewen, Ulrich K. 0000-0003-0187-4319 SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Department of Ichthyology, Münchhausenstr. 21, 81247 München, Germany. schliewen @ snsb. de; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0003 - 0187 - 4319 schliewen@snsb.de Author Stepien, Carol A. 0000-0002-5544-4333 National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D. C, USA. StepienCA @ si. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 5544 - 4333 text Zootaxa 2022 2022-09-28 5190 2 151 193 journal article 153839 10.11646/zootaxa.5190.2.1 60faa853-726d-4b71-a3cb-c21a0087515f 1175-5326 7120060 92BFDA7A-28C0-4816-8A91-CFB842C95E96

TABLE 2. The evidence-based checklist of the gobiid species confirmed in the South Caspian waters (i.e., South Caspian Sea and its catchment area) of Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Abbreviations of the fish collections are explained in Table 1. SCE: South Caspian endemic; CE: Caspian endemic in general; PCN: Ponto-Caspian native; and Ex: exotic. Ecological groups: M, marine; E, estuarine; and F, fluvial; *= main habitat.

Species	Status	Ecological group	Iran	Azerbaijan	Turkmenistan
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Anatirostrum profundorum (Berg, 1927)	SCE	M	ZM-CBSU (this study); CMNFI (Ahnelt et al. 2000)	confirmed and mapped in Azerbaijan by (Pinchuk & Miller 2004a)	ZISP (Berg 1927)
Babka gymnotrachelus (Kessler, 1857)	PCN	M*, E			records by B.D. Ragimov (Pinchuk et al. 2003e)
Benthophiloides brauneri Beling and Iljin, 1927	PCN	M*, E*, F		ZISP (a single specimen) (Beling & Iljin 1927)
Benthophiloides turcomanus (Iljin, 1941)	SCE	M			syntypes (Iljin 1941)
Benthophilus baeri Kessler, 1877	CE	M	ZM-CBSU (this study)	ZISP (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007); records by K.F. Kessler, L.S. Berg and D.B. Ragimov (Pinchuk et al. 2004a)	records by K.F. Kessler, L.S. Berg and D.B. Ragimov (Pinchuk et al. 2004a)
Benthophilus casachicus Ragimov, 1978	CE	M*, E			recorded from the Ogurchinskiy Is- land (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)
Benthophilus ctenolepidus Kessler, 1877	SCE	M	ZISP: recorded from Gorgan Bay, Iran (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)	ZISP (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)	ZISP: records from off Zelenyy Bugor and Belyy Bugor (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)
Benthophilus granulosus Kessler, 1877	CE	M*, E	ZM-CBSU (this study)	ZISP: recorded from the Baku Bay, Azerbai- jan (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)	ZISP: recorded from Chelekenskiy Bay (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)
Benthophilus grimmi Kessler, 1877	CE	M		type material in BMNH, SPU and ZISP: described from south of Baku, Azerbaijan (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)
Benthophilus kessleri Berg, 1927	CE	M			ZISP & IZA: recorded from Kuuli Cape and Krasnovodsk (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)
Benthophilus leobergius Berg, 1949	CE	M*, E	ZM-CBSU (this study); type material from Gorgan Bay in ZISP (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007); CMNFI (Coad 2008)	ZISP (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)	IZA: recorded from the Ogurchin- skiy Island (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007)