Garra sauvagei ( Lortet, 1883 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 457

Garra sauvagei ( Lortet, 1883) [E]—Kinneret deep-water garra; Yableset matzuya

Taxonomy. Original description: Capoeta sauvagei Lortet, 1883: 154 , Pl. 13 (fig. 2) [Lake Tiberias (Kinneret), Israel; lectotype: MGHN 3491 (77 mm SL)].— Israel synonyms: Tylognathus steinitziorum Kosswig, 1950 .— Revisions: None.—Illustration: Lortet, 1883: pl. 13 (fig. 2).

Status in Israel. Recorded from Israel in the original description by Lortet (1883: 154); confirmed by Steinitz (1953: 210) as Varicorhinus sauvagei, Kosswig (1950) as Tylognathus steinitziorum ; Steinitz (1953: 211) as Tylognathus steinitziorum, Goren (1974: 91) as Tylognathus steinitziorum, Goren & Ortal (1999: 4) as Hemigrammocapoeta nana ; Geiger et al. (2014).—Israel material: MGHN, ZMUI, HUJ.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: Lake Tiberias.—Distribution in River Basin: 3-Kinneret Basin.— General distribution: Israel endemic.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species is found in a variety of habitats, such as rivers, lakes, and small ponds. Freshwater.

Economic importance. No commercial importance.

Conservation. Conservation Status in Israel: Probably extinct.—IUCN: NE (2023).—Threats: Unknown.—High sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered a keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—High priority for conservation action.

Remarks. This species was originally described from Israel; identity needs clarification; was considered very rare when it was described, possibly now extinct. It may have been based on a misidentified Garra rufa (Heckel 1843) . It was synonymized by some authors with G. nana , but recently again treated as valid ( Geiger et al. 2014; Freyhof 2016). We tentatively leave this taxon in the checklist, pending additional studies on the subject.