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.

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).