Garra nanus (Heckel, 1843)

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

Garra nanus

Common name. Damascus barb.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Garra in Central Anatolia, Mediterranean, and Dead Sea basins by: ○ gular disc absent / ○ two pairs of barbels / ○ 8½ branched dorsal rays / ○ a complete total lateral-line with 31−37 scales / ○ 9−15 gill rakers. Size up to 100 mm SL.

Distribution. Syria: al-Awaj in Damascus basin. Qishon in northern Israel and Jordan drainage including Lake Tiberias. Introduced to a coastal stream in southwest Israel.

Habitat. Slow-flowing or stagnant waters of streams, lakes, and springs. Usually in warm, muddy, and even slightly polluted waters.

Garra nudiventris ; Birjand, Iran; ~ 55 mm SL.

Biology. Spawns in winter. Feeds mainly on plants, periphyton, and detritus.

Conservation status. LC.

Remarks. Earlier placed in Hemigrammocapoeta . Garra nanus , G. caudomaculata , and G. culiciphaga , form a monophyletic lineage. Garra sauvagei is a synonym, but molecular differences between populations are considerable, and the species needs revision.

Further reading. Goren 1974 (distribution, habitat; as Tylognathus steinitziorum ); Krupp & Schneider 1989 (morphology); Geiger et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny, placement in Garra ); Behrens-Chapuis et al. 2015 (molecular phylogeny); Hashemzadeh Segherloo et al. 2016a (molecular phylogeny, reduction of gular disc).