Alburnoides parhami is distinguished from other congeners in Iran by a combination of the following characters: ventral keel most commonly sharp, scaleless; snout long, slightly pointed; mouth terminal with the tip of the mouth cleft on a level with the upper half of the pupil; absence of well-marked spots or dark pigmentation in the lateral line canal; eye large, orbit width about equal to interorbital width); 46-51 lateral line scales to posterior margin of hypurals; commonly 2.5-5.2 pharyngeal teeth; commonly 8½ branched rays on dorsal fin; commonly 12½ or 13½ branched rays on anal fin; typically 10 scale rows between lateral line and dorsal fin origin; 39-41, usually 40-41, total vertebrae; caudal vertebral region equal or slightly longer than abdominal region (most frequent vertebral formulae 20 + 20 and 20 + 21); and usually 12 or 13 predorsal vertebrae (Ref. 106248).