Morphologic and phylogenetic analyses on Alburnus rafinesque, 1820 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) species in Seyhan, Ceyhan, Lower Euphrates and Orontes river basins

This study was carried out 2013 June in order to determine morphologic and molecular characters and phylogeny of Alburnus species in Seyhan, Ceyhan, Lower Euphrates and Orontes river basins. A total of 6 species, Alburnus adanensis, Alburnus caeruleus, Alburnus qalilus, Alburnus orontis, Alburnus mossulensis and Alburnus sellal were identified from these basins. Morphologic characters, mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (cyt b) and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) genes were sequenced from Alburnus species. These results showed that same sequences of COI gene in A. sellal and A. adanensis, genetic distance of two bleaks for cyt b range between %0.2 and %1.1 were found. According to Neigbour Joining and Maximum Likelihood dendograms for COI and cyt b, A. sellal and A. adanensis branched out together. Both morphologic characters and mtDNA sequences indicated that A. adanensis is a junior synonym of A. sellal.