15. Benthophilus mahmudbejovi Ragimov, 1976, Mahmudbejov’s Tadpole Goby

Benthophilus mahmudbejovi Ragimov, 1976: 1196; type locality: off Cape Peschanyy, Middle Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, depth 40 m; holotype: ZISP 53655 [ex IZAB 027], paratypes: ZISP 53656 [ex IZAB 012] (20).

Etymology: Named for A. A. Mahmudbejov, a leading ichthyologist of Azerbaijan.

Distribution and habitat: Along coasts of all three areas of the Caspian Sea (Fig. 11C): Volga River region of the North Caspian Sea; eastern coast of the Middle and South Caspian Sea from Peschanyy Cape south to Cheleken Peninsula and Ogurchinskiy Island, Turkmenistan. The report on its distribution in the coastal waters of Gilan (Iran) by Abbasi (2017) refers to the recently described B. persicus . No records from Iran. At depths 3–15 m in the North Caspian Sea, and down to 50 m in the Middle and South Caspian Sea regions, abundant in the Volga River delta. Both fresh and brackish waters, up to 13 ‰. Prefers shallow waters, spawns in waters 1–11 m deep (Boldyrev & Bogutskaya 2007).

IUCN: LC (Freyhof & Kottelat 2008f).