The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia which discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates along with smaller tributaries.
The red garra, also known as the doctor fish or nibble fish, is a species of cyprinid that is native to a wide range of freshwater habitats in subtropical parts of Western Asia. This small fish typically is up to about 14 centimeters in total length, but locally individuals can reach as much as 24 cm (9.5 in).
Aligudarz, also known as ‘Ali Gudār, is a city and capital of Aligudarz County, Lorestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 78,690, in 18,115 families.
The Karun is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and its only navigable river. It is 950 km (590 mi) long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as the Dez and the Kuhrang, before passing through the capital of the Khuzestan Province of Iran, the city of Ahvaz before emptying to its mouth into Arvand Rud.
The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and in southwestern Iran. The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra, Nasiriyah, Amarah and a portion of southwestern Iran. Historically the marshlands, mainly composed of the separate but adjacent Central, Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. The unique wetland landscape is home to the Marsh people, descended from the Ur, Sumer and Babylon civilisations, who have developed a unique culture tightly coupled to the landscape – harvesting reeds and rice, fishing and herding water buffalo.
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.
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. The majority of the more than 140 species of garras are native to Asia, but about one-fifth of the species are from Africa.
Garra typhlops, also known as the Iran cave barb is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is endemic to caves in Iran. Like other cave-adapted fish, it is blind and lacks pigmentation.
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.
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.
Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and hypogean fish.
Garra micropulvinus is a species of cyprinid fish in the subfamily Labeoninae. It is endemic to the upper Red River drainage in Yunnan, China. It grows to 13 cm (5.1 in) standard length.
The mangar is a large species of ray-finned fish in the genus Luciobarbus, native to the Tigris–Euphrates river system in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Oxynoemacheilus is a genus of fish in the family Nemacheilidae found in Europe and Western Asia.
Oxynoemacheilus parvinae is a species of stone loach which is endemic to the drainage of the Sirvan River, a tributary of the Tigris in Kermanshah Province of Iran where it prefers reasonable fast flowing, relatively clear water of a gravel substrate. it has not been evaluated for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species but it may be threatened by drought, water abstraction and pollution. The specific name honours Parvin Etesami, a famous Iranian poet of the 20th-century.
Garra tashanensis is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Garra. This cavefish is endemic to the Tashan Cave located in the Tashan region of Khuzestan Province, Iran.
Garra amirhosseini is a fish species in the genus Garra endemic to the Tigris River drainage in Iran.
Yang Jun-Xing is a Chinese herpetologist and ichthyologist with the Kunming Institute of Zoology. As of 2018, Yang authored 9 species of fish and amphibians.
Mahi Kur Cave is a cave located in Lorestan province in Papi district, near a village called Levan. This cave is the only national natural monument of Lorestan province and was registered in 2006. There are two rare and unique specimens of blind fish in this cave that have not been found anywhere else in the world. These fish have no eyesight and are completely blind. They do not have any traces of outside eyes and are known as Garra typhlops since they live in groundwater and in dark caves.
Neolissochilus pnar is a species of subterranean cyprinid in the genus Neolissochilus. It is the largest known subterranean fish, a title formerly held by the blind cave eel.
