Garra festai

Common name. Ammiq barb.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species Garra in Central Anatolia, Mediterranean, and Dead Sea basins by: ○ gular disc incomplete / ○ 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ one pair of barbels / ○ lateral line incomplete / ○ skin behind lower jaw continuous, with a shallow depression in middle / ○ chin behind lateral lobes rounded anteriorly, not reaching between lateral lobes. Size up to 90 mm SL.

Distribution. Lebanon: Ammiq marshes in upper Litani drainage.

Habitat. A small wetland with dense reeds and springs. Spawns in dense vegetation.

Biology. Lives for 5 years and spawns first time after first winter. Fractional spawner.

Conservation status. CR; limited to a small wetland that partially dries out in summer. Ammiq marshes (253 ha) are remnants of much more extensive marshes and lakes that once existed in Bekaa Valley, and since 1970, 90 % of Ammiq marshes have been drained. It is an Important Bird Area, listed in Directory of Wetlands, a Ramsar site; part of it is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Remarks. Earlier placed in Hemigrammocapoeta. Garra festai seems not to be closely related to G. caudomaculata, G. culiciphaga, and G. nanus.

Further reading. Tortonese 1938 (description); Krupp 1985d (distribution); Geiger et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny, placement in Garra); Behrens-Chapuis et al. 2015 (molecular phylogeny); Hashemzadeh Segherloo et al. 2016a (molecular phylogeny, reduction of gular disc).