Garra variabilis ( Heckel, 1843 )

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 11-12

Garra variabilis ( Heckel, 1843) [N]—Small-mouth garra

Taxonomy. Original description: Discognathus variabilis Heckel, 1843: 1069 [79] [Aleppo, Syria; Mosul, Iraq; syntypes: NMW 53238-40 (3, 8, ca. 10), 53260-69 (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2), 53272 (4); SMF 403 (ex NMW in 1844) (4); ZMB 3301 (4) (ex NMW)].— Iraq synonyms: None.—Revisions: Sayyadzadeh et al. (2015).— Illustrations: Heckel (1843: pl. 8 (fig. 1)) as Discognathus variabilis .

Status in Iraq. Recorded from Iraq in original description by Heckel (1843).—Iraq materials: NMW, SMF.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Tigris River basin.—General distribution: Middle East: Tigris River basin ( Turkey, Syria, and Iraq).—Habitat: This species inhabits a wide range of standing and slowly flowing waters such as rivers, springs, marshes, and streams. It seems to be quite tolerant of pollution and inhabits reservoirs. Freshwater.

Economic importance. Locally consumed, but of no commercial importance.

Conservation. Conservation Status in Iraq: Unknown.—IUCN: LC (IUCN 2023).—Threats: There are many threats in the area, but none seems to be serious enough to really impact this species.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered as a keystone species.—Decline status: Decreasing.—Low priority for conservation action.