Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859

Saad, Adib, Çiçek, Erdoğan, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil & Eagderi, Soheil, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Syria: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5350 (1), pp. 1-62 : 42

Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859 [I]—Eastern mosquitofish; Gambosia

Taxonomy. Original description: Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859: 390 [Palatka, eastern Florida, (Palatka, eastern Florida and Charleston, South Carolina), USA; lectotype: ANSP 6976; lectotype selected by Huber (2019: 64)].—Syrian synonyms: None.—Revisions: Rauchenberger (1989: 3).—Illustration: McEachran & Fechhelm (1998: 924, fig.).

Status in Syria. First record from Syria by Khalil (1930) as Gambusia affinis ; confirmed by Beckman (1962: 170); Krupp (1992b: 47); Ali (2003); Hurani (2005); Saad et al. (2006).—Syrian material: MNHN, MSL.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Syria: Widespread all basins of Syria (introduced since 1926).— Distribution in River Basin: 1-Dajleh & Khabour, 2-Euphrates & Aleppo, 3-Desert, 4-Orontes, 5-Barada & Awaj, 6-Coastal, 7-Al-Yarmouk.—General distribution: North America: Atlantic and Gulf Coast drainages, eastern USA; widely introduced elsewhere for mosquito control.—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 437-Orontes, 438- Jordan River, 440-Arabian Interior, 441-Lower Tigris & Euphrates, 442-Upper Tigris & Euphrates.—Habitat: This species often occurs in shallow, often stagnant ponds and the shallow edges of lakes and streams where predatory fishes are largely absent and temperatures are high. Freshwater, brackish.

Economic importance. No commercial importance.

Reasons of introduction. Biocontrol: to prevent eutrophication, aquatic plants, and pest control.

Conservation. Not relevant (introduced species).

Remarks. It was introduced from the island of Corsica to Egypt in 1926 and then to Syria from Egypt in 1927, with the aim of combating mosquitoes in the jungle swamps and the Syrian Jazira region ( Khalil, 1930). Previous records of Gambusia affinis in Syria refer to holbrooki . However, it should be determined whether there is a single species or whether both G. affinis and G. holbrooki are present in the country.