Diversity, assessment and distribution of endemic and non-endemic vertebrate species of genetic resources in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

Abstract

Two water bodies of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea located in the South of Iran and different vertebrate aquatics inhabiting there consist of fishes (Osteichthyes and Chondricthyes), marine mammals, sea snakes and reptiles. A total of 860 fish species belongs to 31 orders and 142 families have been identified and reported. Amongst them, some important species have been studied from point of molecular genetics and population genetics such as croaker, silver pomfret, cobia, sardines, lanternfishes…. . On the other hand, from marine mammals a total of 10 species of dolphins, 14 species of whales and one species of dugong were identified.Also, 9 species of sea snakes have been reported from the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea belongs to 6 genus and 2 subfamilies of Hydrophidae family. It should be mentioned that no genetic studies have been done on marine mammals and sea snakes till now. In addition, a total of 5 species of sea turtles have been reported from the study area and there are few background on genetic studies for main species in the Persian Gulf.