Red garra

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Red garra
Garra Rufa.JPG
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Labeoninae
Genus: Garra
Species:
G. rufa
Binomial name
Garra rufa
(Heckel, 1843)
Synonyms

The red garra (Garra rufa), 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. [4] This small fish typically is up to about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in total length, [4] but locally individuals can reach as much as 24 cm (9.5 in). [5]

Contents

In the wild, Garra rufa feed on detritus, algae and tiny animals (arthropods and other zooplankton). [5] Since the early 21st century, this fish has been integrated into a spa treatment where they feed on the stratum corneum skin layer of patients with psoriasis. While the doctor fish treatment has been found to alleviate the symptoms of psoriasis, [6] the treatment is not curative, and no cure for psoriasis currently exists. The use of the fish as a spa treatment for the wider public is still widely debated on grounds of efficacy and validity.

Distribution, habitat and taxonomy

As traditionally defined, Garra rufa is native to Turkey, The Levant, Iraq and Iran. [1] Some of the main systems where it is found are the Kızıl, Seyhan, Ceyhan, Orontes, Queiq, Jordan, Tigris–Euphrates, Kor, and Mond river basins, but the species also inhabits other coastal river basins in the Levant and Iran, as well as the endorheic Lake Maharlu system. [1] [4] [5] It lives in rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs, ponds and lakes, although it tends to avoid stagnant waters. [1] [4] It often is common or abundant, even in areas that are heavily influenced by humans like polluted canals. [1] [5]

The taxonomy of this species has been labelled with uncertainty. As traditionally defined ( sensu lato ), there are some morphological variations over its relatively large range and it has been recognized for several years that it likely was a species complex. [5] [7] Several subspecies have been described, but their validity is questionable and in the last few decades authorities have generally not recognized them. Nevertheless, reviews published since 2014 have provided genetic and morphologic evidence for recognizing some of them as separate species, while other new species have been described from the species complex. This includes G. turcica (formerly a subspecies) from its Turkish range, except the Tigris–Euphrates system, G. jordanica (new species) from the northern Dead Sea basin, including the Jordan River, in Israel, Jordan and Syria, G. gymnothorax (formerly a subspecies) from the Karun, Balarud and Bashar systems in Iran, G. mondica (new species) of the Mond River basin in Iran, and G. amirhosseini (new species) from the Sartang-e-Bijar Spring in the Tigris River system in Iran. G. jordanica and G. turcica have entirely separate ranges from true G. rufa (thus limiting its range to the Tigris–Euphrates system and river systems in Iran), but the others do overlap in range with true G. rufa or at least occur in the same river basins. [8] [9] [10]

Other members of the G. rufa complex are G. barreimiae , G. elegans , G. ghorensis , G. longipinnis , G. nana , G. persica , G. rossica and G. sahilia , but these were generally recognized as valid species many years ago. [8] [9] [10] Finally the complex includes four cavefish: G. lorestanensis , G. tashanensis , G. typhlops and G. widdowsoni . [9]

Relationship with humans

Doctor fish cleaning a bather's feet Doctor fish2.jpg
Doctor fish cleaning a bather's feet
Some spas provide large fish ponds with thousands of doctor fish in them Doctor fish.jpg
Some spas provide large fish ponds with thousands of doctor fish in them

Doctor fish facilities at spa resorts exist in many countries worldwide. In 2006, doctor fish spa resorts opened in Kangal, Turkey, Hakone, Japan, and Umag, Croatia, where the fish are used to clean the bathers at the spa.[ citation needed ] In 2008, two widely known doctor fish pedicure services were opened in the United States in Fairfax County, Virginia, [11] and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wisconsin ordered the closure of the doctor fish service shortly after its opening. In 2010, the first spa opened in the United Kingdom in Sheffield. [2] [3] [12] [13] In 2011, the UK Health Protection Agency issued a report assigning a "very low" risk of transferring infection from the procedure. [14]

The practice is banned in several of the states in the United States and Canadian provinces as cosmetology regulators believe the practice is unsanitary, with the Wall Street Journal saying that "cosmetology regulations generally mandate that tools need to be discarded or sanitized after each use. But epidermis-eating fish are too expensive to throw away". [13] The procedure is legal in Quebec, with a few clinics in Montreal. [15] The animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which opposes all human use of animals, denounces the practice, citing callous methods of international transportation and suggesting that the fish are deliberately starved between treatments to force them to eat an abnormal food. [16]

Garra rufa seen in the spa and aquarium trade mostly originate from commercial facilities in Israel and to a lesser degree Turkey. [7] Since Israeli and many (but not all) Turkish populations of "G. rufa" now are recognized as G. jordanica and G. turcica instead, this leads to questions over the true identity of most of the fish seen in the trade. [8] [10] [17] It is legally protected from capture from the wild in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting. Despite its ability to survive in polluted waters, [1] the species requires clean, well-oxygenated and moving waters to thrive in an aquarium. [7] For treatment of skin diseases, aquarium specimens are not well-suited as the skin-feeding behavior fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply can be scarce and unpredictable.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Alburnoides</i> Genus of fishes

Alburnoides is a genus of cyprinid fishes native to Europe and Asia. Many species are known as riffle minnows or spirlins.

<i>Alburnus</i> Genus of fishes

Alburnus is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows. They are known commonly as bleaks. A group of species in the genus is known as shemayas. The genus occurs in the western Palearctic realm, and the center of diversity is in Turkey.

<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.

<i>Garra</i> Genus of fishes

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 160 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.

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<i>Pseudophoxinus</i> Genus of fishes

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavefish</span> Fish adapted to life in caves

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichthyotherapy</span>

Ichthyotherapy is the use of fish such as Garra rufa for cleaning skin wounds or treating other skin conditions. The name ichthyotherapy comes from the Greek name for fish – ichthys. The history of such treatment in traditional medicine is sparsely documented. In a museum near the River Kwai, recording the privations of prison camps, a sketch drawn by a prisoner showed him up to his waist in water, but with small fish attending to his leg ulcers. There is widespread use of such fish in India, particularly in rural areas. The most widely known form of ichthyotherapy is used in the treatment of skin conditions and involves the Garra rufa, commonly known as doctor fish or nibble fish. This fish occurs naturally in the Euphrates. The benefits were first observed in Kangal, Turkey; therefore, it is also called the Kangal fish. Some suffering from psoriasis and dermatitis have benefited from the treatment, which involves lying in the ponds and letting the fish eat the scales and loose skin on the affected areas. The popularity of the treatment for skin conditions made Kangal a health resort.

Barilius mesopotamicus, the Mesopotamian minnow or Mesopotamian barilius, is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in rivers, streams and irrigation ditches, usually with some flow and water temperatures from 12 to 24 °C (54–75 °F), in the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. It reaches a length of about 7 cm (2.8 in).

The Sellal bleak is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Alburnus. It can be found in the drainage basins of the Queiq River and the Tigris–Euphrates river system in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. A recent study has found that Alburnus mossulensis was probably a synonym of Alburnus sellal.

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

The binni is a species of cyprinid fish endemic to the Tigris–Euphrates Basin in the Middle East. This fish mostly inhabits lakes and marshes, especially in densely vegetated places where it also lays its eggs, but periodically it moves into rivers. This barbel is the only member in its genus, but was included in the "wastebasket genus" Barbus by earlier authors. It has declined in recent times due to habitat loss and overfishing.

Alburnoides varentsovi is a fish species of the family Cyprinidae, known from Turkmenistan. It can be differentiated from its cogenerates by differences in fin ray and vertebral counts, together with other morphological characters.

Garra lorestanensis is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Garra Known from the Loven Cave, the natural outlet of a subterranean limestone system of the Zagros Mountains in the Ab-e Sirum or Ab-e Serum Valley near Tang-e Haft railway station, the Tigris River drainage, the Persian Gulf Basin, Lorestan Province, southwestern Iran.

Garra jordanica is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. This small fish, up to 10 cm (4 in) in standard length, is found in the northern Dead Sea basin, including the Jordan River system and Lake Kinneret, in Israel, Jordan and Syria. Populations in the coastal rivers of Kishon, Daliyya, and Taninnim have not been studied in detail, but may also be this species. In the past all these populations were included in G. rufa. Since the "G. rufa" seen in the aquarium and spa trade mostly are of Israeli origin, this leads to questions over their true identity. In the southern Dead Sea basin G. jordanica is replaced by the much rarer G. ghorensis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Freyhof, J. (2014). "Garra rufa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2014: e.T19086922A19223063.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Zicha, Ondřej (2009). "Garra rufa". BioLib. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Search Results for: Garra rufa". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2016). "Garra rufa" in FishBase . August 2016 version.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Coad, B.W. (14 November 2016). "Cyprinidae: Garra to Vimba". Freshwater Fishes of Iran. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "A medical study conducted by Martin Grassberger and Werner Hoch of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, reported that exfoliation by doctor fish, Garra rufa, native to the hot springs at Kanghal, Turkey, when used in combination with ultraviolet (UV) light can clear the appearance of psoriasis. The treatment kept symptoms at bay for about eight months." Source: New Scientist. 7/14/2007, Vol. 195, Issue 2612, p. 52.
  7. 1 2 3 "Garra rufa (HECKEL, 1843)". SeriouslystupidFish. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 Hamidan, N.H.; M.F. Geiger; J. Freyhof (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.
  9. 1 2 3 Esmaeli, H.R.; G. Sayyadzadeh; B.W. Coad; S. Eagderi (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 BayÇelebİ, E.; C. Kaya; D. Turan; S.A. ErgÜden; J. Freyhof (2018). "Redescription of Garra turcica from southern Anatolia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)". Zootaxa. 4524 (2): 227–236. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4524.2.6. PMID   30486123. S2CID   54159379.
  11. ↑ Virginia Spa Creates Splash by Offering Fish Pedicures
  12. ↑ Slack, Martin (10 March 2010). "Step right in – the Doctor Fish will see you now". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  13. 1 2 Ban on Feet-Nibbling Fish Leaves Nail Salons on the Hook
  14. ↑ "Fish pedicure risk 'very low'". NHS England . Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  15. ↑ Galipeau, Silvia (8 July 2010). "Piscipédicurie: inusitée, controversée et non réglementée". La Presse. Canada. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  16. ↑ "What No One Told You about Those Disgusting Fish Pedicures". PETA. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  17. ↑ Gophen, M. (2018). "Fishery Management in Lake Kinneret: A Review". Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. 2018 (1): 1–10. doi: 10.29011/2577-1493.100040 . S2CID   51811751.
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