Garra dunsirei Banister, 1987

Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Jufaili, Saud Al, Masoumi, Amir Hassan & Zarei, Fatah, 2022, Ichthyodiversity in southeastern Arabian Peninsula: Annotated checklist taxonomy, short description and distribution of Inland fishes of Oman, Zootaxa 5134 (4), pp. 451-503 : 466

4. Garra dunsirei Banister, 1987 , Endemic

Fig. 16

Etymology: Garra : named based on a vernacular Indian name, a fish living in mud; dunsirei : named after Mr. A. Dunsirei who collected the fishes.

Common name: Tawi Atair Garra .

Taxonomy: Garra dunsirei was originally described by Banister 1987:59, figs. 1, 2a, 3-5 [Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology v. 52 (no. 1) from a Sinkhole, Tawi Atair [or Attair], 17°06’N, 54°34’E, in the Jabal Qara (Jabal Samhan) mountains , Dhofar, Oman.

Holotype: BMNH 1984 .3.6.571 . Paratypes: BMNH 1984.3.6.572-576 (6) .

Short description: It is distinguished from the other Garra species in the region by having the highly unusual shape of neural spines below the dorsal fin, being very short and not penetrating between dorsal pterygiophores, whitish or pink body, very small eye, absence or reduction of scales on breast and abdomen.

Distribution: Garra dunsirei is restricted to a sinkhole at Tawi Attair, in the Jabal Qara (Jabal Samhan) mountains, Dhofar, Oman ( Fig. 17 ). Tawi Atair is a very impressive limestone formation at the surface level (680 m above the sea level) with a depth of about 211 m.

Examined material: Based on holotype and paratypes.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Garra dunsirei, an endemic fish from Tawi Atair Sinkhole, Oman. Upper, redrawn by Rhian Kendall from Banister (1987), lower photo by Klaus Rudloff.

FIGURE 17. Distribution map of Garra dunsirei, Oman. Pink: Southwestern Arabian Coast, green: Oman Mountains, and yellow: Arabian Interior.