Aphaniops hormuzensis (Teimori, Esmaeili, Hamidan & Reichenbacher 2018)

Description: This species is somewhat similar to A. ginaonis from Iran and A. kruppi from Oman in that the males have 12-17 brown bars on the flank, the anterior-most of which is located beneath the pectoral fin and the posterior-most on the caudal-fin base (vs. flank bars absent or restricted to the caudal peduncle in A. dispar, A. richardsoni, A. stoliczkanus); differs from A. kruppi by having a long narrow bar (vs. a diamond-shaped or vertically-elongate black or dark-brown blotch) at the caudal-fin base in females, and 12-17 (vs. 9-14) brown bars on the flank in the male. Aphaniops ginaonis (endemic to a single spring connected to a stream in which A. teimorii occurs) are similar in that these exhibit the same colour pattern in both males and females, and possess 4-5 scale rows on the caudal-fin base; however, Aphaniops teimorii differs from A. ginaonis by having 7½-8½ (vs. 5) branched dorsal-fin rays (Ref. 126233).

Dorsal soft rays (total): 6 - 8; Analsoft rays: 7 - 9

Collected from the coastal rivers and streams between the Merhan and Minhab River drainages (Ref. 126233).