109,967 research outputs found
Correction to: Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) concentration and health risk assessment of aerosols dust in Nicosia, North Cyprus (Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, (2024), 333, 3, (1073-1082), 10.1007/s10967-023-09346-w)
No full textThe article “Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) concentration and health risk assessment of aerosols dust in Nicosia, North Cyprus”, written by Hesham M. H. Zakaly, Akbar Abbasi, Nouf Almousa and Ahmet Savaşan, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume 333, issue 3, page 1073–1082, the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. Therefore, the copyright of the article has been changed t
Efficacy of Entomopathogenic Nematode, Steinernema abbasi PN-1 against Helicoverpa armigera Hubner
No full textThe experiment was conducted during May 2022 at College of Agriculture, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, U. S. Nagar, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India. The Steinernema abbasi PN-1 is a local isolate of entomopathogenic nematode isolated from the soil collected from Uttarakhand, India. Under the present study, virulenceof Steinernema abbasi PN-1 against different stages of Helicoverpa armigera Hubner were tested. Virulence studies of S. abbasi PN-1 against H. armigera proved that all larval stages and pupae of H. armigera were found susceptible to the IJs of S. abbasi PN-1. There was a positive correlation between insect mortality and the nematode concentration. The S. abbasi PN-1 caused 100% larval mortality at 48–60 h of post treatment in all tested doses in laboratory. Among the larval instars, 4th instar larvae of H. armigera were more susceptible with a median lethal concentration (LC50) value of 24.37 IJs larva-1 and the median lethal time (LT50) values of 25.63 hours. The 2nd instar larvae was least susceptible with an LC50 value of 78.96 IJs larva-1 and LT50 values of 41.33 hours. The pupal stage was less susceptible than the larval stage with the LC50 value of 98.3 IJs larva-1. Our results showed that S. abbasi PN-1 can be used as efficient biological control agents against H. armigera with further field studies
Comparison of pathogenicity of two entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema abbasi and Steinernema carpocapsae, to Lymantria xylina (Lepidoptera : Lymantriidae)
No full textPathogenicity of two entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema abbasi and S. carpocapsae, and their potential applications in the field against the casuarina tussock moth, Lymantria xylina, were conducted in this study. Inoculation with different concentrations of S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae to 3rd- 6th instar larvae of L. xylina, the LT50 values treated with S. carpocapsae were shorter than those with S. abbasi in all larval instars. The LT50 values of 6th instar larvae infected with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 20 IJs/larva were 89.8 h and 67.4 h, while the LT50 values of 3th instar larvae infected with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 15 IJs/larva were 40.5 h and 24.7 h, respectively. The effect of temperature on pathogenicity of S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae to L. xylina was tested by inoculating 4th instar larvae with 20 IJs/larva at 20℃, 25℃, and 30℃. The LT50 values infected with S. abbasi at 20℃, 25℃, and 30℃ were 64.3, 43.9, and 30.7 h, whereas those with S. carpocapsae were 32.3, 25.2, and 16.4 h, respectively. These results showed that the LT50 values were decreased while increasing the treating temperatures in both nematodes. Inoculation of 4th instar larvae of L. xylina with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 20 IJs/larva in artificial simulated seasons, i.e., spring and fall (L: D = 12: 12 h;26: 22℃), summer (L: D = 13 h 20 min: 10 h 40 min;31: 27℃), and winter (L: D = 11: 13 h;21: 16℃). The LT50 values infected with S. abbasi at 20 IJs/larva under spring, fall and winter were 35.4, 35.2, and 56.3 h, respectively, while those with S. carpocapsae were 30.4, 26.6, and 36.2 h, respectively. Therefore, the pathogenicity of both nematodes in winter was lower than that in other seasons. While inoculating 4th instar larvae with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 100 and 300 IJs/L in greenhouse, the LT50 values of 4th instar larvae incubated at night were shorter than those in daytime as treated with both nematodes at the same concentration. In small scale field experiments treating with 1x105, 3x105 IJs/L, the mortalities of L. xylina larvae was not significantly different between both nematodes, resulting in only 22.7% - 42.4%, while the larval mortality was reached 87.2% as treated with fenvalerate. Therefore, it is suggested that effective application techniques of these two entomopathogenic nematodes in the field have to be further developed.本試驗藉由生物檢定研究蟲生線蟲對黑角舞蛾 (Lymantria xylina) 之致病力，並評估其是否適合應用於田間防治。利用不同濃度之蟲生線蟲Steinernema abbasi及S. carpocapsae 懸浮液接種三～六齡的黑角舞蛾幼蟲，結果發現S. carpocapsae對各齡期之半致死時間 (LT50) 皆較S. abbasi為短。在不同齡期之比較，六齡幼蟲分別以20隻侵染期幼蟲(IJs)接種S. carpocapsae之LT50為67.4 h，S. abbasi為89.8 h；而三齡幼蟲各以15 IJs接種S. carpocapsae 之LT50為24.7 h，S. abbasi為40.5 h。在20、25及30℃下，以20 IJs接種S. carpocapsae之LT50分別為32.3、25.2及16.4 h，而接種S. abbasi之LT50則分別為64.3、43.9及30.7 h。此結果顯示此兩種蟲生線蟲對黑角舞蛾幼蟲之LT50，在20-30℃隨溫度上升而降低。另外，在不同光週期及變溫環境下模擬不同季節，春季及秋季 (L：D = 12：12 h；26：22℃)、夏季 (L：D = 13 h 20 min：10 h 40 min；31：27℃)、冬季 (L：D = 11：13 h；21：16℃)，各以S. abbasi及S. carpocapsae 20 IJs接種黑角舞蛾四齡幼蟲，S. abbasi之LT50分別為35.4、35.2及56.3 h；而S. carpocapsae之LT50分別為30.4、26.6及36.2 h。此結果顯示蟲生線蟲於冬季之殺蟲效力較其他季節差。於溫室模擬田間試驗中，發現接種100 IJs/L或300 IJs/L，除100 IJs/L之S. abbasi外，於晚間施用對於黑角舞蛾幼蟲之半致死時間比白天施用較短。然在田間小規模施用時，則發現不論S. abbasi或S. carpocapsae 分別以1x105及3x105 IJs/L濃度施用時，兩者所造成的死亡率無顯著差異，防治率介於22.7 % ~ 42.4 %之間，而防治效果仍以芬化利最佳為87.2 %。故蟲生線蟲有效的田間施用技術，尚待進一步之探討。目次
中文摘要.....................................................................................I
英文摘要....................................................................................II
前言.............................................................................................1
文獻摘述.....................................................................................3
材料與方法...............................................................................18
結果...........................................................................................22
討論...........................................................................................28
結論...........................................................................................35
參考文獻...................................................................................36
圖表...........................................................................................4
AP-S Young Professional Ambassador Program [Young Professionals]
No full textIn this issue of IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine , Dr. Qammer H. Abbasi, chair of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Young Professional (YP) Ambassador Program Subcommittee writes about the AP-S YP Ambassador Program and highlights the newly selected AP-S YP ambassadors for 2022. Congratulations to all YP ambassadors—class of 2022! As the first batch of AP-S YP ambassadors, I am confident they will set a high standard for those in the future
Electrophysiological correlates of attentional capture in joint action
No full textDataset from the following publication: Abbasi, H., Dötsch, D., & Schubö, A. (under revision). Electrophysiological correlates of attentional capture in joint action. European Journal of Neuroscience. For more information see the ReadMe.pdf file.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, IRTG 1901 (project number 220482592)V
Üçüncü Abbasi Asrında Nesir sanatı ve Öncüleri
No full textBu çalışmada, yaklaşık dört asırlık bir dönemi kapsayan Abbasi medeniyetinin adeta bir yansıması olan nesir sanatı ele alınmıştır. Merkezi halifelik döneminden emirlikler ve devletçikler dönemine geçiş aşaması sayılabilecek Üçüncü Abbasi Asrı (334-447 h. / 945-1055 m.), klasik Arap nesir sanatının zirve yaptığı bir dönem olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Samaniler, Ziyârîler, Tâhirîler ve özellikle 60 yıl Bağdat merkezinde hüküm süren Buveyhîler gibi Fars kökenli emirliklerin bu dönemde siyaset sahnesinde yer alması edebî açıdan da Abbasî kültürüne zenginlik ve çeşitlilik katmıştır. Çünkü bu dönemde Arapça yazan Fars asıllı yazarlar Sâsânîlerden kalma köklü bir devlet geleneği olan yazışma kültürünü Arap edebiyatına aktarmışlardır. Kuşkusuz bu, Arap nesrinin gelişmesine önemli katkı sağlamıştır.In this study, the art of the prose which covers a period of nearly four centuries and becomes a reflection of the Abbasid civilization is discussed. The third Abbasid century (334-447. h. / 945-1055 m.), calls attention as the art of classical Arabic prose. During this period, Emirates such as Samanies and Zıyaries and Tahırıes, and especially the Emirate of Buvayhi who ruled for nearly 60 years in central of Baghdad has added richness and diversity to Abbasid culture because Persian writers who wrote in Arabic have transferred correspondence culture which was a rooted state tradition from the Sassanids to Arabic literature in this period. Undoubtedly, this made a significant contribution to the development of Arabic prose.</p
A non-event based approach for non-intrusive load monitoring
No full textThis chapter investigates the use of factorial hidden Markov models (FHMMs) to identify the most likely sequences of appliance states that correspond to the time series of aggregated power measurements. It discusses the probabilistic framework for modelling and estimation of hidden appliance. The chapter discusses the model definition and provides an overview of learning and inference methods for an FHMM. To initialize the load disaggregation model, the initial state and transition probability must be specified. The chapter provides the detail of different models that were considered for hidden appliance state estimation. Hidden Markov models have been widely used to model stochastic processes and are also well suited to model a combination of independent processes. Moreover, empirical evaluations suggest that non‐event based and event based approaches are competitive in performance for recognizing individual appliance operations
兩種蟲生線蟲Steinernema abbasi及S.carpocapsae對小白紋毒蛾（鱗翅目：毒蛾科）致病力之比較
No full text蟲生線蟲為微生物防治方法上具發展潛力之因子之一，本試驗藉由兩種蟲生線蟲對小白紋毒蛾(Orgyia postica (Walker))之致病力測試，評估於田間應用之潛用性。利用不同濃度之兩種蟲生線蟲(Steinernema abbasi ; Steinernema carpocapsae)懸浮液接種二齡至五齡小白紋毒蛾幼蟲，結果發現除五齡外，S. carpocapsae對二至四齡幼蟲所造成之半致死時間(LT50)均較S. abbasi為短。二齡幼蟲對於S. abbasi之感受性較低，死亡率為50-74.1%之間，其他齡期均可達到78.3-100%之死亡率。於四種溫度20、25、30及35°C下，以20 IJs/0.5 ml之線蟲懸浮液接種四齡幼蟲，則S. abbasi之LT50分別為61.2、42.8、29.9及21.6 h；而S. carpocapsae之LT50則為50.6、25.1、21.5及18.3 h，溫度升高時兩種線蟲之LT50也隨之縮短。模擬夏季與冬季之溫度與光週期下，分別接種20及30 IJs/0.5 ml兩種線蟲懸浮液於四齡小白紋毒蛾，夏季 (L : D = 13 h 20 min : 10 h 40 min ; 31 : 27°C) S. abbasi之LT50為43.1及38.8 h，S. carpocapsae之LT50為37.9及36.2 h；而冬季 (L : D = 11 : 13 h ; 21 : 16°C)時，S. carpocapsae之LT50為53.5及57.1 h，S. abbasi於冬季之死亡率僅達20及26.7%，此結果顯示兩種線蟲於冬季之效果較差，且S. abbasi不適用於該季節。於開放空間模擬田間試驗中，在早上及傍晚將300及500 IJs/ml之兩種懸浮液接種於茶樹上三齡幼蟲，發現施用時間所造成之死亡率無顯著差異，介於73.3-93.3%，S. abbasi在早上施用之LT50分別為46.6、48.1 h，而傍晚施用分別為57.8、45.1 h，而S. carpocapsae之LT50分別為38.4、34.9 h及37.3、41.2 h。上述試驗結果，提供蟲生線蟲對於小白紋毒蛾致病力之初步探討，且顯示其在田間防治上具有潛用性。Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) have been regarded as potential biological control agents against insect pests. In this study, two EPNs, Steinernema abbasi and Steinernema carpocapsae, were assayed to determine their pathogenicity against the small tussock moth, Orgyia postica (Walker) in the laboratory. When inoculated with different concentrations of nematodes to 2nd-5th instar larvae of O. postica, the LT50 values treated with S. carpocapsae were shorter than those with S. abbasi in most instars tested except the 5th instar. The cumulative mortalities of 2nd instar larvae treated with S. abbasi were 50-74.1%, while those of others were 78.3-100%. The LT50 values of S. abbasi against 4th instar larvae inoculated with 20 IJs/0.5 ml/larva at 20, 25, 30 and 35C were 61.2, 42.8, 29.9 and 21.6 h, respectively, while those of S. carpocapsae were 50.6, 25.1, 21.5 and 18.3 h, respectively. These results showed that the LT50 values declined as elevated the incubating temperatures inoculated with both nematodes. Inoculations of 4th instar larvae of O. postica with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 20 and 30 IJs/0.5 ml/larva were conducted in artificial simulated seasons where summer was L : D = 13 h 20 min : 10 h 40 min ; 31 : 27C and winter L : D = 13 : 11 h ; 21 : 16C. The LT50 values infected with S. abbasi at 20 and 30 IJs/0.5 ml/larva under summer were 43.1 and 38.8 h, respectively, but the cumulative mortality under winter was only 20-26.7%. The LT50 values infected with S. carpocapsae at 20 and 30 IJs/0.5 ml/larva under summer were 37.9 and 36.2 h, respectively, whereas those under winter were 53.5 and 57.1 h, respectively. The pathogenicity of both nematodes in winter was lower than in summer. In opening space trials, when inoculated 3rd instar larvae with S. abbasi and S. carpocapsae at 300 and 500 IJs/ml, the cumulative mortalities resulted from applications in the morning and evening were not significantly different between two treatments. The LT50 values infected with S. abbasi at the same concentrations in the morning were 46.6 and 48.1 h, respectively, while those in the evening were 57.8 and 45.1 h, respectively. In S. carpocapsae, the LT50 values in the morning were 38.4 and 34.9 h, respectively, while those in the evening were 37.3 and 41.2 h, respectively. Therefore, it is suggested that both EPNs are potential to be applied as biocontrol agents against O. postica in field conditions.前 言 1
文獻摘述 3
材料與方法 15
結 果 20
討 論 27
結 論 34
參考文獻 36
圖 表 46
附 錄 7
Anomaly detection and self-healing in industrial wireless networks
No full textA self‐healing block in self‐organizing network consists of two modules, namely cell outage detection and cell outage compensation (COC). This chapter presents a data‐driven analytics framework for autonomous outage detection and coverage optimization in an LTE network that exploits the minimization of drive test functionality as specified by 3GPP in Release 10. The outage detection approach first learns a normal profile of the network behaviour by projecting the network measurements to a low‐dimensional space. For this purpose, the multi‐dimensional scaling method in conjunction with domain and density based detection models, one class support vector machine based detector and local outlier factor based detector, respectively, are examined for different network conditions. The low‐dimensional representation of network measurements facilitates data modelling and allows the anomaly detection algorithms to obtain a better estimation of data density. To optimize the coverage and capacity of the identified outage zone, a fuzzy based reinforcement learning algorithm for COC is proposed
Benthophilus persicus Kovačić & Esmaeili & Zarei & Abbasi & Schliewen 2021, sp. nov.
No full textBenthophilus persicus sp. nov. (Figs 2–10, Table 1) Holotype. ZSM 47595, male, 45.2+ 9.9 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°29’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 01 Apr. 2004 (Fig. 4a). Paratypes. ZSM 47596, female, 45.8+ 9.7 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°31’ N 49°30’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 18 Nov. 2002. ZSM 47597, juvenile male, 30.4+ 7.6 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°36’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & M. Tavakoli, 06 Jan. 2004. ZSM 47599, female, 30.8+7.0 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°36’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & M. Tavakoli, 05 Jan. 2004 (Fig. 4c). ZSM 47598, juvenile female, 27.5+ 6.4 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°36’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 01 Nov. 2002. ZM-CBSU 5003-128, female, 30.9+ 8.2 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°36’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 09 Jan. 2004. ZM-CBSU 5001-1, female, 35.1+8.1, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°29’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, Nov. 2002. ZM-CBSU 5003-60, juvenile female, 25.4+ 6.1 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°31’ N 49°30’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, Nov. 2002. ZM-CBSU 5022-23, female, 26.0+5.9, Iran, Gilan Province, Chaboksar, southern Caspian Sea, 37°01’ N 50°34’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 18 Nov. 2015. ZM-CBSU 5024-1, female, 23.7+ 5.3 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Chamkhaleh, southern Caspian Sea, 37°30’ N 49°55’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 09 Nov. 2002. ZM-CBSU 5003-77, female, 25.1+ 6.3 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°29’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 01 Nov. 2002. PMR VP4679 male, 43.3+10.0 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Chaboksar, southern Caspian Sea, 37°01’ N 50°34’ E, K. Abbasi & A. Sarapnah, 01 Mar. 2005. PMR VP4680, male, 47.0+ 8.6 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°31’ N 49°30’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 09 Mar. 2003. PMR VP4681 male, 35.1+ 8.5 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°29’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 01 Mar. 2003. PMR VP4682, female, 30.4+ 7.4 mm, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°29’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 17 Sep. 2002. PMR VP4683, female, 34.2 mm, caudal fin damaged, Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea, 37°35’ N 49°29’ E, K. Abbasi & A. Sarapnah, 01 Jan. 2004. Additional material. ZM-CBSU S003-17, 21 specimens, 31.7–47.3 mm SL, 37°37’46.71” N 49°33’55.10” E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 09 Mar. 2003. ZM-CBSU S003-112–113, ZM-CBSU S003-115, 3 specimens, 38.2–40.1 mm SL, 37°37’46.71” N 49°33’55.10” E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 05 Jan. 2004. ZM-CBSU S003- 134–135, 2 specimens, 33.5–40.8 mm SL, 37°37’46.71” N 49°33’55.10” E, K. Abbasi & S. Abdolmaleki, 10 Jan. 2004. All additional material was collected from Iran, Gilan Province, Anzali, southern Caspian Sea. Diagnosis. Benthophilus persicus is distinguished from all other congeneric species by: (1) dermal fold behind jaws well-developed, large, rectangular, (2) chin barbel of moderate size, 1/3–2/3 of eye diameter, (3) maximum body width 15.1–22.9% of SL, (4) mouth width 36.3–55.8% of head length, (5) second dorsal fin I+7–8; (6) origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin, (7) dermal tubercles present, clearly larger than granules, with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute, always less than right angle, (8) dorsal row of tubercles complete, 22– 29, (9) ventral row of tubercles 22–25, (10) ventrolateral row of tubercles absent, (11) tubercles not present on temporal and occipital head regions, (12) granules not present on flanks, (13) transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b, (14) anterior interorbital transversal row pa with one or two papillae and anterior interorbital transversal row pp with two or three papillae, and (15) body with 20–22 transversal ltm rows starting anteriorly behind pectoral axilla and alternating anteriorly with three longitudinal llm rows (characters presented in the order of appearance in the description). Each of the selected diagnostic characters differentiate the new species from between 4 to 15 Benthophilus species. Considering only these selected fifteen diagnostic characters, the new species differs from congeneric species in a range from at least five characters (from B. durrelli Boldyrev & Bogutskaya, 2004, B. mahmudbejovi Ragimov, 1976 and B. pinchuki Ragimov, 1982) up to eleven differential characters (from B. kessleri Berg, 1927). Description (Fig. 4). All morphometric and meristic values in the text are presented first for the holotype for the paratypes in parentheses. Morphometric data are provided in Table 1. Particularly large variability of some features may be based on sex, developmental stage or size dimorphism and is highlighted in the Table 1 and further explained in the Discussion. General morphology. Head rounded in vertical view, i.e., triangular with well-rounded lateral sides (Fig. 5). Head large, long and wide, length 2.8 (2.6–3.0) in SL, width 1.0 (1.0–1.2) in head length. Head depressed (dorsoventrally compressed), head depth in head width 1.9 (1.7–2.2), head depth 1.8 (1.6–2.4) in head length, wider than body, head width 0.7 (0.5–0.6) in maximum body width. Snout gently rounded, broad and moderately long, larger than eye diameter, 0.5 (0.6–0.8) in eye diameter, 3.6 (3.6–4.2) in head length. Eye small, horizontal diameter 7.1 (4.6–7.1) in head length. Interorbital distance 6.8 (5.2–10.9) in head length. Eye diameter and interorbital width both size-dependent, i.e., eye diameter negatively correlated and interorbital distance positively correlated with the body size. Dermal fold behind end of jaws well-developed, large, rectangular, elongate (Figs. 6a and 6b). Dermal fold depth in length 2.4 (2.5–3.7), with more or less rounded angles, along edge undulate or straight. Dermal fold of variable size to eye diameter, length of its base 0.9 (0.8–1.6) in eye diameter, 6.0 (4.9–8.2) in head length. Chin barbel of moderate size, 0.6 (0.4–0.7) in eye diameter, 12.0 (10.4–13.7) in head length, triangular, widened at base, triangle narrower in larger specimens, broader in smaller fish (Figs. 6b and 6c). Mouth relatively wide, mouth width 2.0 (1.8–2.8) in head length. Mouth corner below anterior eye margin. Anterior nostril tube without process from rim, reaching upper lip; posterior nostril with raised rim. No medial groove present on temporal and occipital head regions. Body deepest at first dorsal-fin origin or slightly in front of it, depth decreasing towards caudal-fin base. Greatest body width at middle between pectoral-fin bases, 4.4 (4.4–6.6) in SL, strongly decreasing towards caudalfin base. Caudal peduncle laterally compressed, caudal peduncle width 1.3 (1.2–1.5 in depth), shallow, its depth 17.4 (15.0–19.3) in SL, and narrow, its width 22.2 (20.2–25.9) in SL. Maximum size 55.6 mm in total length. Fins. The poor condition of fins in some cases prevents exact counts. D1 IV (III: 1, IV: 14), D2 I+7 (I+7: 7, I+8: 7; in paratype ZM-CBSU 5001-1 positive count was not possible), A I+8 (I+7: 6, I+8: 8; in paratype ZM-CBSU 5001-1 positive count was not possible), C branched rays 10 (10: 7, 11: 3, 12: 2; in three paratypes count was not possible), segmented 13 (13: 12; in three paratypes count was not possible), P 16 on both sides (16: 20, 17: 9, both sides counted; in paratype PMR VP4681 positive count was not possible on left side), V I+5/5+I (V I+5/5+I: 15). First dorsal fin low, its height 11.7 (10.5–11.9 in adult males, 13.5–21.3 in other individuals) in SL, lower than second dorsal fin, 7.8 (6.5–8.8) in SL. Origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin. Anal-fin height 9.7 (8.4–10.4) in SL. Pectoral fin long, reaching backwards halfway between the first and second dorsal fins when folded back. Pelvic disc complete and oval with well-developed anterior membrane, anterior membrane with straight edge. Pelvic disc long, 3.2 (3.1–3.8) in SL, reaching to anal-fin origin. Caudal fin rounded. Dermal ossifications. Granules present only on head (on snout, between eyes, on temporal and occipital head regions, and around eye in a circle), on predorsal area and between dorsal and dorsolateral rows of tubercles below the first dorsal fin and below interdorsal space (Figs. 3 and 5). No granules on eyes. No granules on gill covers, dorsal body and posterior flank, around pelvic disc, and only a few granules on posterior dorsal part of caudal peduncle (Fig. 7). Granules tiny, simple-structured bumps, sometimes grouped two or three together, small specimens with comparatively large granules (Figs. 2 and 3). Tubercles distinctively larger than granules (Figs. 2 and 3). Tubercles on head appear more or less randomly scattered. Head with a few small tubercles on snout, 2–4 tubercles present between eyes and 10–12 well-developed tubercles on upper cheek, preopercle and opercle (Figs. 5 and 7a). Tubercles not present on temporal and occipital head regions, i.e. all dermal ossifications are definable as granules according to size and shape; and the first tubercles anteriorly to temporal region are located at interorbital space, i.e. anteriorly to rear edge of eyes (Fig. 5). Tubercles on trunk are arranged in longitudinal rows: dorsal, dorsolateral and ventral rows (Figs. 7 b-d). Dorsal row complete, with 22–29 tubercles, including 2–4 tubercles in front of the first dorsal fin. Several anterior tubercles of dorsal row in front and along the first dorsal fin smaller than remaining tubercles and with one radial row of spinules instead of two. Dorsolateral row with 20–26 well developed tubercles, starting above pectoral-fin base, ending at posterior part or end of D2, decreasing in size posteriorly. No ventrolateral row (Fig. 7c). Ventral row anteriorly curved upwards with 2–3 tubercles above others, 22–25 tubercles including the 2–3 anterior upper tubercles. Tubercle bodies poorly defined, dominated by spinules. Tubercles of body rows and of head possess two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute angle, always less than right angle. Exceptions are the anterior tubercles of dorsal row, with one radial row of spinules instead of two (Fig. 3), and tubercles on preopercle and opercle, where spinules look disorganised (Fig. 2). Lateral line system (Fig. 8). No head canals present. Number of papillae in rows are strongly specimen size depending, with larger rows of sensory papillae irregularly doubled or tripled in larger specimens (e.g., suborbital transversal rows or row ot) (Figs. 2 and 6a). Some rows or parts of rows as ridges with papillae along top, e.g., row e (Fig. 9). Rows with range of number of sensory papillae in parentheses as follows: (1) preorbital: snout with four median preorbital series, vertical row r (3–5) slightly above horizontal level of posterior nares, horizontal row s 1 (3–5) below horizontal level of posterior nares, horizontal row s 2 (3–4) n the level of anterior nares and below s 1 and vertical s 3 (2–4) more medially above upper lip. Lateral series c in four parts: superior c 2 as two horizontal rows between anterior and posterior nostril (2+4 – 4+8); middle c 1 (3–6) starting at anterior nostril; inferior rows, upper horizontal c 2 (5–10) and lower horizontal c 1 (3–6) starting anteriorly at upper lip. (2) suborbital: seven transverse suborbital rows (1–7) of sensory papillae: rows 1–4 begin distant from orbit, row 4 from anterior end of row b downwards to posterior end of row d; superior segments rows 5s and 6s and row 7 close to eye, inferior sections of rows 5 and 6 well developed, row 5i below middle of row b, row 6i below posterior end of row b, both ending downwards below row d in the level and behind dermal fold (1: 10+23, 2: 8–15, 3: 8–21, 4: 8– 15, 5s: 4–8, 5i: 10– 16, 6s: 4–7, 6i: 12–19, 7: 1–2). Longitudinal row b (10–16) extending forwards above row 5i to upper end of row 4 not reaching below eye. Longitudinal row d (9+8 – 15+11) discontinuous with large gap between supralabial and cheek parts from suborbital row 2 to row 3. (3) preoperculo-mandibular: external row e (27+22 – 44+34) divided into anterior and posterior sections; internal row i continuous (40–62), mental row f (6–14) as cluster in front of chin barbel (Fig. 9). (4) oculoscapular: vertical row tra (1–3) behind lower posterior eye edge with one additional papilla behind it, longitudinal row x¹ placed posteriorly above opercle (1+3 – 5+3), divided by vertical row trp (3–5) in two parts, vertical row q (2–5) behind and below row x¹, with one or two additional papillae behind it. Longitudinal row x² (2–3) placed above opercular posterior edge, with transversal row y (2–3) below it. Axillary vertical rows as 1 (3–7), as 2 (4–7), as 3 (6–12) present, row la 1 (2–4) above as 2 , row la 2 (3–5) above between as 2 and as 3 . (5) opercular: transverse row ot (23–48); superior longitudinal row os (10–24); and interior longitudinal row oi (3–5). (6) anterior dorsal: anterior row n longitudinal (1–3) behind upper eye, transverse row o (1–4) distant from fellow in dorsal midline; longitudinal row g (3–4) distant behind row o, longitudinal row m and longitudinal row h not visible. (7) interorbital: two pairs of interorbital transversal rows, anterior pa (1–2) and posterior pp (2–3). Body with 18–22 transversal ltm rows starting anteriorly behind axilla and as rows, alternating anteriorly with three longitudinal llm rows making anterior beginning pattern of -II-I-I (Fig. 10). Three transversal lv rows at lower anterior body. Two longitudinal lc rows, one along midline of caudal fin, the second above it. Osteology. Vertebral column: 9 (8–10) precaudal and 19 (19–20) caudal vertebrae (including urostyle); total vertebral count: 28 (28–30). D1 pterygiophore insertion pattern: 3–22 1*01*1*1* (only from holotype); number of anal pterygiophores anterior to the first haemal spine 0 (0–1). Crest-like remaxillary process present on posterior third of premaxialla, sloping with a steep angle on anterior rim and gently towards posterior tip of premaxialla. Five branchiostegal rays. One epural. Number of C rays inserting in hypural 5: 2 (1–2), 3+4 (fused): 5 (5–6), hypural 1+2 (fused): 4 (4–5) and parhypural: 1 (0–1), total number of C rays inserting in hypurals, and parhypural: 12 (12; fused hypural 1+2 and 3+4 separated by a large gap, which does not support any branched caudal ray. Coloration. No live coloration recorded. Color of preserved specimens (Fig. 4): body opaque fawn, irregularly scattered melanophores present on upper head and body, and also on dorsal, caudal and pectoral fins. In some specimens remaining pigmentation almost invisible. Some specimens with three whitish saddles on back: at D2 anterior beginning, D2 posterior end and on caudal peduncle, and with four pigmented blotches on caudal fin longitudinally arranged. Etymology. The species is named for Persia. Distribution and habitat. Southern Caspian Sea basin (Fig. 1). Benthophilus persicus inhabits brackish waters and is abundant on sandy bottoms in coastal areas of the southern Caspian Sea. Capture depth ranges from 6 to 70 m. However, no specimens have yet been collected in the eastern part of southern Caspian Sea. Remarks. Boldyrev & Bogutskaya (2007) tentatively assigned 20 recognized species of the genus Benthophilus to four phenotypic groups. The most prominent differences of the new species as compared with members of the four different species groups are as follows. The new species clearly differs from group I members comprising B. granulosus Kessler, 1877, B. grimmi Kessler, 1877, B. kessleri Berg, 1927, B. leptorhynchus Kessler, 1877 and B. svetovidovi Pinchuk & Ragimov, 1979 by having tubercles on the body (vs. bony plates rather than tubercles on body). Benthophilus persicus differs from B. baeri Kessler, 1877 and B. spinosus Kessler, 1877 of group IV by having comparatively small dorsal tubercles with body poorly defined, dominated by clearly visible spinules (Figs. 2 and 3) (vs. very large dorsal tubercles with clear polygonal conical erected body with small or hardly visible spinules, Figure 4 in Boldyrev & Bogutskaya (2007)), 22–25 tubercles in ventral row (vs. 9–20), numerous tiny simple structured granules, sometimes grouped two or three together (vs. large and sparse granules with spinules), a few granules present on the posterior dorsal part of the caudal peduncle (vs. granules restricted to the upper head surface, gill covers and anterior part of the back). Benthophilus persicus cannot be unambiguously assigned to phenotypic groups II or III of Boldyrev & Bogutskaya (2007) since it features a mix of characters that were used to distinguish these two groups. The new species has tubercles with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute angle (vs. almost right angle of two rows of spinules on dorsal tubercules in group III), tubercles present between eyes (vs. tubercles absent between eyes in group III), a complete dorsal row (vs. dorsal row incomplete in group III), and a low count of 22–29 dorsal row tubercles (vs. two out of four species of group III, B. pinchuki Ragimov, 1982 and B. ragimovi Boldyrev & Bogutskaya, 2004, having higher counts of dorsal row tubercles). However, it has no tubercles on temporal and occipital head regions (vs. usually four tubercles in row on each side of head in temporal and occipital regions of head, one unpaired temporal tubercle in group II) and no blotches on body in a preserved state (vs. blotches on body in group II, except B. abdurahmanovi Ragimov, 1978). The phenotypic groups II and III of Boldyrev & Bogutskaya (2007) appear less well defined morphologically than the other two groups. Therefore, the new species is here compared with each of the 13 recognized species of groups II and III in alphabetic order: Benthophilus persicus differs from B. abdurahmanovi Ragimov, 1978 by having origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin (vs. under origin of the second dorsal fin), tubercles present, clearly larger than granules, with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute angle (vs. tubercles slightly larger than granules, with weakly developed spinules), no ventrolateral row of tubercles (vs. present), no tubercles on temporal and occipital head regions (vs. weak tubercles present there), no granules on flanks (vs. present), transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b (vs. below middle of row b), and the anterior interorbital transversal row pa with 1–2 papilla (vs. 3–5 papillae). Benthophilus persicus differs from B. casachicus Ragimov, 1978 by having the dermal fold rectangular large (vs. triangular large), the origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin (vs. under origin of the second dorsal fin), tubercles present with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute angle (vs. tubercles with numerous radial rows of spinules), no tubercles on temporal and occipital head regions (vs. weak tubercles present on head), anterior interorbital transversal row pa with 1–2 papillae (vs. 3–5 papillae), body with 18–22 transversal ltm rows starting anteriorly behind axilla and alternating anteriorly with three longitudinal llm rows, having a total of 21–25 lm rows (vs. 17–18 lm rows in total), and a maximum body width 15.1–22.9% of SL (vs. 23.2–27.8%). Benthophilus persicus is different from B. ctenolepidus Kessler, 1877 in having the dermal fold rectangular large (vs. curved large), origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin (vs. under origin of the second dorsal fin), tubercles present with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute, always less than right, angle (vs. about right angle), dorsal row of tubercles complete, 22–29 (vs. incomplete dorsal row), transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b (vs. below middle of row b), and second dorsal fin with I+7–8 rays (vs. second dorsal fin I+9–10). Benthophilus persicus differs from B. durrelli by being distributed in southern Caspian Sea (vs. distribution in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov and Don River from mouth upstream to the upper stretch of Tsymlyansk Reservoir) and by having no ventrolateral row of tubercles (vs. large tubercles present), no tubercles on temporal and occipital head regions (vs. present in two radial rows), no granules on flanks (vs. sparsely scattered but present), transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b (vs. below middle of row b), and the anterior interorbital transversal row pa with 1–2 papillae (vs. 3–5 papillae). Benthophilus persicus differs from B. leobergius Berg, 1949 in having the dermal fold rectangular (vs. triangular), origin of anal fin in front of vertical through origin of second dorsal fin (vs. origin of anal fin under origin of the second dorsal fin), no tubercles on temporal and occipital head regions (vs. tubercles present), transversal suborbital row 6i below posterior end of row b (vs. below middle of row b), anterior interorbital transversal row pa with 1–2 papilla (vs. 3–5 papillae), maximum body width 15.1–22.9% of SL (vs. 24.5–31.1%), and mouth width 36.3–55.8% of head length (vs. 65.3–71.3%). Benthophilus persicus differs from B. leptocephalus Kessler, 1877 in having the dermal fold large and rectangular (vs. dermal fold absent), a moderate chin barbel, 1/3–2/3 of eye diameter in length (vs. very small barbel, hardly visible or absent), tubercles present with two posterior rows of spinules forming an acute, always less than right, angle (vs. nearly right angle),
- …
