Garra rufa

Common name. Red garra.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Garra in Persian Gulf and endorheic basins in Iran by: ○ chest and belly covered by scales, scales embedded in skin, rarely absent / ○ mid-dorsal area in front of dorsal origin covered by scales / ○ usually 8½ branched dorsal rays / ○ 20−24 gill rakers / ○ 32–38 total scales along lateral line / ○ 11–13 circumpeduncular scale rows / ○ 9+8 branched caudal rays / ○ gular disc fully developed / ○ two pairs of normally developed barbels / ○ lateral and distal margin of labrum of gular disc free from skin of chin / ○ body brown or grey, usually mottled / ○ eye fully developed. Size up to 200 mm SL.

Distribution. Qweiq, Euphrates, and Tigris drainages. Also, in Iranian Persian Gulf basin from Zohreh south to Mond, including endorheic Kor basin. Absent from Karkheh drainage. In Karun, most Garra are hybrids of this species and G. gymnothorax.

Habitat. Moderately warm to very warm streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and artificial habitats of all types, provided there are at least small rock or gravel areas. Usually in moderately to rapidly flowing waters. Resistant to moderate pollution and may reach very high abundance in shallow, polluted streams.

Biology. Lives up to 7 years. Usually spawns after one or two years, depending on water temperature, hatching month, and food availability. Spawns in spring and summer, March−July, depending on altitude and latitude. Fractional spawner. Spawns in groups over gravel substrate in open water column. Eggs are not sticky and fall into crevices. Larvae pelagic and increasingly lithophilic as they grow. Benthic grazer feeding on detritus, algae, cyanobacteria, and small invertebrates scraped from hard surfaces such as stones, roots, and plants.

Conservation status. LC; extirpated from Qweiq.

Remarks. This is the original Kangal doctor fish. Replaced by G. gymnothorax in Iranian Karkheh drainage. Both species are indistinguishable by external characters, although they belong to different phylogenetic clades.

Further reading. Patimar et al. 2010b (biology); Hamidan et al. 2014 (molecular data, restriction to Persian Gulf basin); Keivany et al. 2015 (morphological diversity); Esmaeili et al. 2016c (molecular phylogeny, description); Hashemzadeh Segherloo et al. 2016a (molecular phylogeny, gular disc morphology); Coad 2021a (biology, morphology); Kaya et al. 2024 (distribution in Türkiye).