sp. n. (Gobiiformes, Gobiidae) from the Alazani River Basin, Georgia.

Background: The South Caucasus Region and Georgia, in particular, is a biodiversity hotspot and characterised by high diversity of landscapes and ecosystems, as well as high levels of endemism. At the same time, diversity of freshwater organisms in the region remains poorly studied, including fishes. The freshwater fish fauna of the South Caucasus Region consists of 119 fish species, of which 13 species belong to the order Gobiiformes.

Species diversity and DNA barcode library of freshwater Molluscs of South Caucasus.

This study provides the first attempt to investigate the molecular diversity of South Caucasian freshwater molluscs (Mollusca, Gastropoda) and lay down the first bricks to build up a DNA-barcode library. In total, 289 COI barcode sequences were obtained from 33 morpho-species belonging to 24 molluscan genera and 10 families that represent nearly 30% of known freshwater molluscan diversity of the South Caucasus region. DNA barcodes were analysed by means of the Barcode Index Number (BIN) and the other tools available in BOLD Systems.

Diatom endemism and taxonomic turnover: Assessment in high-altitude alpine lakes covering a large geographical range.

Diatoms are widely used as ecological indicators and show various degrees of endemism. Many studies that support the idea of endemic species integrate several climate zones, a variety of ecosystem types, and often focus on a global scale. Here, we investigated whether endemism could be detected when considering a homogeneous type of ecosystem in a single climate zone.

Towards retrieving the Promethean treasure: a first molecular assessment of the freshwater fish diversity of Georgia.

In this study, we provide a first estimation of the molecular diversity of the freshwater fishes of Georgia. In addition to field collections, we integrated DNA barcode data obtained from recent works and public databases (BOLD and NCBI GenBank). Currently, the DNA barcode reference library for freshwater fishes of Georgia comprises 352 DNA barcodes for 50 species, 36 genera and 15 families (52% of total Georgian freshwater fish diversity), from which 162 DNA barcodes belonging to 41 species were newly generated as part of this study.

Rhodeus caspius, a new bitterling from Iran (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Acheilognathidae).

A new bitterling from the Rhodeus amarus group is described based on morphological and molecular data. Rhodeus caspius sp. nov.

Genetic diversity, phylogenetic position and morphometric analysis of Astacus colchicus (Decapoda, Astacidae): a new insight into Eastern European crayfish fauna.

The phylogeny of European crayfish fauna, especially with respect to Eastern European species, is still far from being completely resolved. To fill this gap, we analyzed most of the European crayfish species focusing on the phylogenetic position of the endemic crayfish Astacus colchicus, inhabiting Georgia. Three mitochondrial and one nuclear marker were used to study evolutionary relationships among European crayfish species, resulting in the unique phylogenetic position of A.

DNA barcode reference libraries for the monitoring of aquatic biota in Europe: Gap-analysis and recommendations for future work.

Effective identification of species using short DNA fragments (DNA barcoding and DNA metabarcoding) requires reliable sequence reference libraries of known taxa. Both taxonomically comprehensive coverage and content quality are important for sufficient accuracy. For aquatic ecosystems in Europe, reliable barcode reference libraries are particularly important if molecular identification tools are to be implemented in biomonitoring and reports in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Phylogeny, phylogeography and hybridization of Caucasian barbels of the genus Barbus (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae).

Phylogenetic relationships and phylogeography of six species of Caucasian barbels, the genus Barbus s. str., were studied based on extended geographic coverage and using mtDNA and nDNA markers.