Garra meymehensis, Zamani-Faradonbe, Keivany, Dorafshan & Zhang, 2021

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 203-205

Garra meymehensis

Common name. Meymeh garra.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Garra in Persian Gulf and endorheic basins in Iran by: ○ chest with normal-sized, posterior margin of scales embedded in skin / ○ mid-dorsal area in front of dorsal origin covered by embedded scales / ○ usually 3 scales between anus and anal origin / ○ usually 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ 9+8 branched caudal rays / ○ 16−20 gill rakers / ○ 33–37 total scales along lateral line / ○ 13–16 circumpeduncular scale rows / ○ lateral and distal margin of labrum of gular disc free from skin of chin / ○ two pairs of normally developed barbels / ○ gular

Garra “mondica ”; Konar Siyah spring, Iran; 73 mm SL.

disc present / ○ body brown or grey, usually mottled / ○ eye fully developed. Size up to 73 mm SL, likely to grow larger.

Distribution. Iran: Meymeh, Doiraj, and Changoleh (Tigris drainage). Iraq: Nahre Al-Tayeb.

Habitat. Springs and spring-fed streams.

Biology. Feeds mainly on periphyton.

Conservation status. VU; with small, declining populations.

Remarks. Occurs in sympatry with G. rufa and G. amirhosseini .

Further reading. Zamani-Faradonbe et al. 2021b (description); Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. 2020 (distribution).

“ Garra mondica ,” a ghost of evolutionary past. Iranian “ G. mondica ” was considered endemic to the springs of Tang-e-Mohr, Konar Siyah, and Firozabad in the Mond drainage. In fact, “ G. mondica ” is a long-extinct species, and only its mitochondrial genome has survived in a few populations of G. rufa as a remnant of its evolutionary past. “ Garra mondica ” was described as a separate species based on mtDNA alone; none of the morphological characters proposed as diagnostic could be confirmed. Genome-wide SNP data examined for “ G. mondica ” show that its nuclear DNA , which codes for all its morphology, ecology, and behaviour, is identical to that of G. rufa . Only the mitochondrial genome of G. mondica survived the intense introgression of G. rufa after it invaded the Mond drainage. As “ G. mondica ” was described based on G. rufa individuals containing mitochondrial DNA of the extinct “ G. mondica ,” it is treated as a synonym of G. rufa . Similar discordances between nuclear DNA and mtDNA have been found in G. gymnothorax , and the situation should be carefully investigated in G. amirhosseini , G. hormuzensis , G. meymehensis , and G. tiam . All these species occur in sympatry or proximity to G. rufa . Further reading. Sayyadzadeh et al. 2015b (description); Zamani-Faradonbe et al. 2021b (characters, distribution).

Garra nanus ; Al Tammasiyyar, Syria; 61 mm SL.

Garra nanus ; Jordan drainage, Syria; 58 mm SL.