Capoeta damascina | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Cyprinidae |
Subfamily: | Barbinae |
Genus: | Capoeta |
Species: | C. damascina |
Binomial name | |
Capoeta damascina (Valenciennes, 1842) [2] | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Capoeta damascina, the Levantine scraper [1] or Mesopotamian barb, is a species of cyprinid fish from the Near East region. It is reported from Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Turkey. [1] [3]
It is a bottom feeding fish, up to 50 cm (1.6 ft) long but typically about 30 cm (1 ft), and it lives in lakes as well as both fast and slow-moving streams, and both in clear and muddy waters. It is said to have tasteless flesh and toxic eggs. [2] It has been recorded hybridising with Carasobarbus canis but these hybrids are sterile. [4]