Garra

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Garra
Garra Rufa.JPG
Doctor fish (Garra rufa)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Labeoninae
Genus: Garra
F. Hamilton, 1822
Type species
Cyprinus (Garra) lamta
F. Hamilton, 1822
Synonyms

AgeneiogarraGarman, 1912
BrachygrammaDay, 1865
DiscognathichthysBleeker, 1860
DiscognathusHeckel, 1843
HemigrammocapoetaPellegrin, 1927
IranocyprisBruun & Kaiser, 1944
LissorhynchusBleeker, 1860
MayoaDay, 1870
PhreatichthysVinciguerra, 1924
PlatycaraMcClelland, 1838
TylognathoidesTortonese, 1938TyphlogarraTrevawas, 1955

Contents

Garra is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. These fish are one example of the "log suckers", sucker-mouthed barbs and other cyprinids commonly kept in aquaria to keep down algae. The doctor fish of Anatolia and the Middle East belongs in this genus. [1] The majority of the more than 160 species of garras are native to Asia, but about one-fifth of the species are from Africa (East, Middle and West, but by far the highest species richness in Ethiopia). [2] [3]

The genus was established by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1822 as a subgenus of Cyprinus (which at that time was a "basket genus" for carp-like cyprinids); though it didn't lead to an act of him to designate a type species by the time. However, as no other garras except the newly discovered G. lamta were known to science in 1822, this was designated as the type species by Pieter Bleeker in 1863. The garras and their closest relatives are sometimes placed in a subfamily Garrinae, but this seems hardly warranted. More often, this group is included in the Labeoninae, or together with these in the Cyprininae. In the former case, the garras are members of the labeonine tribe Garrini, in the latter they are in the subtribe Garraina of tribe Labeonini. The genus Discogobio is a close relative. [3]

Description and ecology

These species are slim cyprinids with a flat belly and a sucking mouth; their shape indicates that they are at least in tendency rheophilic. They are distinguished from other cyprinids by a combination of features: As in their closest relatives, their lower lip is expanded at its posterior rim to form a round or oval sucking pad, the vomero-palatine organ is much reduced or completely lost, the pectoral fins have at least the first two rays enlarged and usually unbranched, the supraethmoid is wider than long when seen from above, and the cleithrum is narrow and elongated to the front. [3]

From other Garrini (or Garraina), the genus Garra can be distinguished as follows: their pharyngeal teeth are arranged in three rows (like 2,4,5–5,4,2), the dorsal fin has 10-11 rays and starts slightly anterior to the pelvic fins, while the anal fin starts well behind the pelvic fins and has 8-9 rays. As far as is known, the diploid karyotype of garras is 2n = 50. [3]

Garras are not or barely noticeably sexually dimorphic and generally cryptically coloured benthic freshwater fish. Six species in the genus ( G. andruzzii , G. dunsirei , G. lorestanensis , G. tashanensis , G. typhlops and some populations of G. barreimiae ) are cave-adapted, lacking pigmentation and/or eyes. [4] [5] [6] [7] Garras are omnivorous, eating alga, plankton and small invertebrates that they suck off substrate like rocks or logs. The food is scraped off with the sharp keratinized borders of the jaws and ingested via suction, created by contracting and relaxing the buccopharynx. As typical for Cypriniformes, the garras lack a stomach entirely, their oesophagus leading directly to the sphincter of the intestine. Different Garra species eat animal and vegetable matter in different proportions, which can – as typical for vertebrates – usually be recognized by the length of their intestine compared to related species: more herbivorous species have a longer intestine. Indeed, intestinal length in this genus is remarkably constant within species and varies a lot between species, meaning that it is useful to distinguish species and that dietary shifts have played a significant role in the evolution of garras. [3]

When the females are ready to spawn, they are markedly plump and swollen; the ripe roe may fill almost four-fifths of their body cavity. The testicles of reproductive males are large too. The average Garra egg is 1.77 mm in diameter and a clutch contains several hundred eggs – up to a thousand or so in large females. The breeding behaviour is generally not well known and breeding is not often achieved in the aquarium; presumably, like many of their relatives they migrate upstream or (if they otherwise inhabit lakes) into the rivers to spawn. [3]

Species

These are the currently recognized species in this genus:

Garra blanfordii Garra blanfordii.jpg
Garra blanfordii
Garra cambodgiensis Flying fox.jpg
Garra cambodgiensis
Garra makiensis Garra makiensis.jpg
Garra makiensis

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyprinidae</span> Family of freshwater fish

Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and the largest vertebrate animal family overall, with about 3,000 species; only 1,270 of these remain extant, divided into about 200 valid genera. Cyprinids range from about 12 mm (0.5 in) in size to the 3 m (9.8 ft) giant barb. By genus and species count, the family makes up more than two-thirds of the ostariophysian order Cypriniformes. The family name is derived from the Greek word kyprînos.

<i>Rasbora</i> Genus of fishes

Rasbora is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are native to freshwater habitats in South and Southeast Asia, as well as southeast China. A single species, R. gerlachi, is only known from an old specimen that reputedly originated from Africa (Cameroon), but this locality is considered doubtful. They are small, up to 17 cm (6.7 in) long, although most species do not surpass 10 cm (4 in) and many have a dark horizontal stripe.

<i>Danio</i> Genus of fishes

Danio is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae found in South and Southeast Asia, commonly kept in aquaria. They are generally characterised by a pattern of horizontal stripes, rows of spots or vertical bars. Some species have two pairs of long barbels. Species of this genus consume various small aquatic insects, crustaceans and worms.

<i>Glyptothorax</i> Genus of fishes

Glyptothorax is a genus of catfishes order Siluriformes of the family Sisoridae. It is the most species-rich and widely distributed genus in the family with new species being discovered on a regular basis. These species are distributed in the Black Sea basin, northern Turkey, south and east to the Yangtze River drainage in China and south throughout Indo-China to Java, Indonesia. They are found in Asia Minor and southwards to Southeast Asia. The genus is very diverse in the Indian subcontinent. Southeast Asian species tend to have restricted distributions.

<i>Capoeta</i> Genus of fishes

Capoeta, also known as scrapers, is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae found in Western Asia. The distribution extends from Turkey to the Levant, to Transcaucasia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, in Armenia, particularly in lake Sevan and northern Afghanistan. This genus is most closely related to Luciobarbus and in itself is divided into three morphologically, biogeographically and genetically distinct groups or clades: the Mesopotamian clade, the Anatolian-Iranian clade and the Aralo-Caspian clade.

Eidinemacheilus smithi, also known as the Zagroz blind loach, is a species of loach in the family Nemacheilidae. This cavefish is endemic to an aquifer in the Karun River drainage in the Zagros Mountains of Iran.

<i>Schistura</i> Genus of fishes

Schistura is a genus of fish in the stone loach family Nemacheilidae native to the streams and rivers of the southern and eastern Asia. Some of these species are troglobitic.

Squalius is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae found in Europe and Asia. Hybridization is not rare in the Cyprinidae, including this genus. S. alburnoides is known to be of ancient hybrid origin, with the paternal lineage deriving from a prehistoric species related to Anaecypris; the latter mated with ancestral S. pyrenaicus. Present-day S. alburnoides mates with sympatric congeners of other species.

Typhlogarra widdowsoni or Garra widdowsoni, the Iraq blind barb or Haditha cave garra, is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to underground water systems near Haditha in Iraq. Although traditionally placed in its own genus Typhlogarra, this is not supported by genetic evidence, leading to its move to Garra. This cavefish is considered critically endangered because of water extraction, which has lowered the groundwater level. Once abundant, a survey in 2012 found that it now was very rare. Another species from the same place, Caecocypris basimi, may already be extinct. The only other known cavefish in Iraq is Eidinemacheilus proudlovei.

<i>Danio erythromicron</i> Species of fish

Danio erythromicron, often known as emerald dwarf danio and emerald dwarf rasbora, is a species of cyprinid fish which is endemic to Inle Lake in Myanmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labeoninae</span> Subfamily of fishes

Labeoninae is a doubtfully distinct subfamily of ray-finned fishes in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. They inhabit fresh water and the largest species richness is in the region around southern China, but there are also species elsewhere in Asia, and some members of Garra and Labeo are from Africa. They are a generally very apomorphic group, perhaps the most "advanced" of the Cyprinidae. A common name for these fishes is labeonins or labeoins.

<i>Psilorhynchus</i> Genus of fishes

Psilorhynchus is a genus of fish in the family Psilorhynchidae native to South Asia. This genus is the only member of its family. The members of Psilorhynchus are small benthic fishes which occur in rivers and streams with fast to swift currents, hence they are often referred to a torrent minnows. They are distributed in southern Asia, in the Indo-Burma region and the Western Ghats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Least rasbora</span> Species of fish

The least rasbora or exclamation point rasbora is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Boraras, native to freshwater habitats in mainland southeast Asia. This species is very small, ranging from 12 to 16 mm.

<i>Hypselobarbus</i> Genus of fishes

Hypselobarbus is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to India.

Aborichthys is a genus of stone loaches found in streams of India with one species also found in Myanmar.

Paracobitis is a genus of Asian stone loaches.

<i>Pethia</i> Genus of fishes

Pethia is a genus of small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to South Asia, East Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. Some species are commonly seen in the aquarium trade. The name Pethia is derived from the Sinhalese "pethia", a generic word used to describe any of several small species of cyprinid fishes. Most members of this genus were included in Puntius, until it was revised in 2012.

Garra magnidiscus is a species of cyprinid fish in the genus Garra. Identified in 2013, Garra m. is found in the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh where is it is known locally as Ngop. The name magnidiscus refers to a distinctive large adhesive disc found in the posterior region of its mouth.

Garra alticaputus is a species of cyprinid fish in the genus Garra described from the Dikrong River at Boorum village Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Garra minimus is a species of cyprinid fish in the genus Garra described from the Ranga River, Lower Subansiri District, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

References

  1. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2017). "Garra rufa" in FishBase . August 2017 version.
  2. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2017). Species of Garra in FishBase . March 2017 version.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stiassny, M.L.J. & Getahun, A. (2007): An overview of labeonin relationships and the phylogenetic placement of the Afro-Asian genus Garra Hamilton, 1922 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), with the description of five new species of Garra from Ethiopia, and a key to all African species. Archived 2008-12-02 at the Wayback Machine Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 150 (1): 41–83.
  4. 1 2 Mousavi-Sabet, H. & Eagderi, S. (2016): Garra lorestanensis, a new cave fish from the Tigris River drainage with remarks on the subterranean fishes in Iran (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). FishTaxa, 1 (1): 45-54.
  5. 1 2 Farashi, A., Kaboli, M., Rezaei, H.R., Naghavi, M.R., Rahimian, H. & Coad, B.W. (2014): Reassessment of the taxonomic position of Iranocypris typhlops Bruun & Kaiser, 1944 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae). ZooKeys, 374: 69-77.
  6. ↑ Romero, A., editor (2001). The Biology of Hypogean Fishes, p. 17. Developments in Environmental Biology of Fishes. ISBN   978-1402000768
  7. 1 2 MOUSAVI-SABET, Hamed, et al. “Tashan Cave a New Cave Fish Locality for Iran; and Garra Tashanensis, a New Blind Species from the Tigris River Drainage (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).” FISHTAXA(2016) 1(3): 133-148, http://www.fishtaxa.com/index.php/ft/article/view/1-3-3.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Arunachalam, M., Nandagopal, S. & Mayden, R.L. (2013): Morphological diagnoses of Garra (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from North-Eastern India with four new species description from Brahmaputra River. Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture, 4 (3): 121-138.
  9. ↑ Esmaeili, H.R., Sayyadzadeh, G., Coad, B.W. & Eagderi, S. (2016): Review of the genus Garra Hamilton, 1822 in Iran with description of a new species: a morpho-molecular approach (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Iranian Journal of Ichthyology, 3 (2): 82-121.
  10. 1 2 3 Nebeshwar, K. & Vishwanath, W. (2013): Three new species of Garra (Pisces: Cyprinidae) from north-eastern India and redescription of G. gotyla. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 24 (2): 97-120.
  11. 1 2 Thoni, R.J., Gurung, D.B. & Mayden, R.L. (2016): A review of the genus Garra Hamilton 1822 of Bhutan, including the descriptions of two new species and three additional records (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa, 4169 (1): 115-132.
  12. 1 2 Nebeshwar, K. & Vishwanath, W. (2015): Two new species of Garra (Pisces: Cyprinidae) from the Chindwin River basin in Manipur, India, with notes on some nominal Garra species of the Himalayan foothills. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25 (4): 305-321.
  13. ↑ http://recordsofzsi.com/index.php/zsoi/article/view/120968/84207%7C Nongthombam Premananda, Laishram Kosygin, Bano Saidullah. 2017. Garra chindwinensis, a New Species of Cyprinid Fish (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from Manipur, Northeastern India
  14. 1 2 Shangningam, B. & Vishwanath, W. (2015): Two new species of Garra from the Chindwin basin, India (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 26 (3): 263–272.
  15. 1 2 Lothongkham, A., Arbsuwan, S. & Musikasinthorn, P. (2014): Garra waensis, a new cyprinid fish (Actinopterygii: Cypriniformes) from the Nan River basin of the Chao Phraya River system, northern Thailand. Zootaxa, 3790 (4): 543–554.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Behrens-Chapuis, S., Herder, F., Esmaeili, H.R., Freyhof, J., Hamidan, N.A., Özuluğ, M., Šanda, R. & Geiger, M.F. (2015): Adding nuclear rhodopsin data where mitochondrial COI indicates discrepancies – can this marker help to explain conflicts in cyprinids? DNA Barcodes, 3 (1): 187-199.
  17. ↑ Lalronunga, S., Lalnuntluanga & Lalramliana (2013): Garra dampaensis, a new ray-finned fish species (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from Mizoram, northeastern India. Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Threatened Taxa, 5 (9): 4368–4377.
  18. ↑ Freyhof, J. (2016): Redescription of Garra elegans (Günther, 1868), a poorly known species from the Tigris River drainage (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa, 4173 (5): 496-500.
  19. 1 2 3 Gurumayum, S.D. & Kosygin, L. (2016): Garra tamangi, a new species of cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. Species, 17 (55): 84-93.
  20. 1 2 Kurup, B.M. & Radhakrishnan, K.V. (2011): Two new cyprinid fishes under the genus Garra (Hamilton) from Kerala, southern India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 107 (3): 220-223.
  21. 1 2 3 Hamidan, N.A., Geiger, M.F. & Freyhof, J. (2014): Garra jordanica, a new species from the Dead Sea basin with remarks on the relationship of G. ghorensis, G. tibanica and G. rufa (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 25 (3): 223-236.
  22. ↑ Kangrang, P., Thoni, R.J., Mayden, R.L. & Beamish, F.W.H. (2016): Garra fluviatilis, a new hillstream fish species (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from the Kwai Noi River system, Mae Khlong basin, Thailand. Zootaxa, 4175 (4): 335-344.
  23. ↑ Zheng, L.-P., Yang, J.-X. & Chen, X.-Y. (2016): Garra incisorbis, a new species of labeonine from Pearl River basin in Guangxi, China (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 26 (4): 299-304.
  24. ↑ http://recordsofzsi.com/index.php/zsoi/article/view/158415/%7C Archived 2021-11-20 at the Wayback Machine Garra jaldhakaensis, a new cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from West Bengal, India
  25. 1 2 3 Arunachalam, M. & Nandagopal, S. (2014): A New Species of the Genus Garra Hamilton, (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from Nethravathi River, Western Ghats, India. Species, 10 (24): 43-57.
  26. ↑ Nebeshwar, K., Bagra, K. & Das, D.N. (2012): Garra kalpangi, a new cyprinid fish species (Pisces: Teleostei) from upper Brahmaputra basin in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Archived 2012-11-01 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Threatened Taxa, 4 (2): 2353–2362.
  27. 1 2 Arunachalam, M., Nandagopal, S. & Mayden, R.L. (2014): Two new Species of Garra from Mizoram, India (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and a General Comparative Analyses of Indian Garra. Species, 10 (24): 58-78.
  28. ↑ Yu, Q., Wang, X., Xiong, H. & He, S. (2016): Garra longchuanensis, a new cyprinid (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from southern China. Zootaxa, 4126 (2): 295-300.
  29. ↑ Tamang, L. (2013): Garra magnidiscus, a new species of cyprinid fish (Teleostei: Cypriniformes) from Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 24 (1): 31-40.
  30. ↑ Sayyadzadeh, G., Esmaeili, H.R. & Freyhof, J. (2015): Garra mondica, a new species from the Mond River drainage with remarks on the genus Garra from the Persian Gulf basin in Iran (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa, 4048 (1): 75–89.
  31. ↑ Shangningam, B. & Vishwanath, W. (2012): A New Species of the Genus Garra Hamilton, 1822 from the Chindwin Basin of Manipur, India (Teleostei: Cyprinidae: Labeoninae). International Scholarly Research Network (ISRN Zoology), 2012: 1-6.
  32. ↑ Shangningam, B. & Vishwanath, W. (2012): Validation of Garra namyaensis Shangningam & Vishwanath, 2012 (Teleostei: Cyprinidae: Labeoninae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, 23 (1): 10-10.
  33. ↑ Tangjitjaroen, Z. S. Randall, Tongnunui, Boyd & Page Species of Garra (Cyprinidae: Labeoninae) in the Salween River basin with description of an enigmatic new species from the Ataran River drainage of Thailand and Myanmar, Zootaxa 5311 (3): 375–39.
  34. ↑ Thoni, R.J. & Mayden, R.L. (2015): Garra robertsi, a new cyprinid (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) fish species from Borneo. Zootaxa, 3985 (2): 284–290.
  35. ↑ Lyon, R.G., Geiger, M.F. & Freyhof, J. (2016): Garra sindhi, a new species from the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve in Oman (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Zootaxa, 4154 (1): 79-88.
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