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Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) from Sirwan River watershed of Kurdistan (Iran) with new faunistic records for Iran and range extensions for the Palearctic region

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Abstract

We present the description of Chironomidae (Diptera) collected from Sirwan River watershed in Kurdistan province of Iran. This study is part of a larger monitoring program conducted from 2017 to 2018, surveying the freshwater flora and fauna of this watershed. Over half of the benthic invertebrates collected in this monitoring were Chironomidae, presenting the most diverse group. A total of 35 species of Chironomidae were found in Sirwan River Watershed of which 18 representing new faunistic records for Iran, range extensions for the Palearctic, and three being likely new species. Sirwan River is the largest running water habitat in the province of Kurdistan and an important resource for the local and regional economy. These studies help identify the organisms of freshwater ecosystems and provide useful tools for investigators, making better assessments of water conditions and improving their management.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the help and co-operation received from many dedicated technicians, field, and laboratory assistants from the Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, and express our sincere thanks to all of them. Without these, this work would not have been possible. Our sincere thanks to many researchers and staffs of various institutes who have greatly helped us in this study: Dr. Joel Moubayed-Breil of Freshwater and Marine Biology, Montpellier, France and Dr. Martin Spies of Zoologische Staatssammlung Munich (ZSM), Germany for providing us with useful references and literature, Dr. Eugenyi Makarchenko of Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Russia for his dedicated help and comments on species of Diamesinae, Dr. David Beresford of Trent University, Biology Department for help on revision of the first draft of this manuscript, Debbie Leitz of Trent University Imaging Centre, Canada for facilitating the additional microscopy for this study, and Dr. Doug Currie of Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto for housing the voucher specimens.

Funding

This study was supported by the Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fisheries Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

    Habibollah Mohammadi, Edris Ghaderi & Arman Mansouri

  2. Zrebar Lake Environmental Research, Kurdistan Studies Institute, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

    Habibollah Mohammadi

  3. Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

    Farshid Ghorbani

  4. Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, Canada

    Armin Namayandeh

  5. Taxanama Corp, 25 Mabelle Ave West, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Armin Namayandeh

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All authors whose names appear on this submission have made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the work, and the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data. We have drafted the work for important intellectual content and approved this version of the manuscript to be published. We agree to be accountable for all aspects of this work and in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Conceptualization: A. Namayandeh; Methodology: H. Mohammadi, E. Ghaderi, F. Ghorbani, A. Mansouri; Formal analysis and investigation: A. Namayandeh, H. Mohammadi, E. Ghaderi, F. Ghorbani, A. Mansouri; Writing - original draft preparation: A. Namayandeh, H. Mohammadi, E. Ghaderi; Writing - review and editing: A. Namayandeh, H. Mohammadi, E. Ghaderi; Funding acquisition: H. Mohammadi, E. Ghaderi, F. Ghorbani; Supervision: A. Namayandeh, H. Mohammadi.

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Mohammadi, H., Ghaderi, E., Ghorbani, F. et al. Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) from Sirwan River watershed of Kurdistan (Iran) with new faunistic records for Iran and range extensions for the Palearctic region. Biologia 76, 1227–1253 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00635-3

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