Garra ghorensis, Krupp, 1982

Garra ghorensis View in CoL View Figure

Common name. Dead Sea garra.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Garra in Mediterranean and Dead Sea basins by: ● tubercles present on upper posterior eye margin / ○ gular disc fully developed / ○ two pairs of normally developed barbels / ○ 31–32+1–2 lateral-line scales / ○ 12−16, usually 14 cir- cumpeduncular scales / ○ slender body / ○ 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ 9−11 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch / ○ mid-dorsal area in front of dorsal origin scaled / ○ chest naked or one to several scales forming one row between pectoral bases / ○ black blotch at posterior caudal peduncle absent. Size up to 101 mm SL.

Distribution View Figure . Jordan and Israel: Southern tributaries of Dead Sea: Lower part of Wadi Ibn Hammad, Ein Al-Haditha, Wadi Al-Hassa (including Wadi al-Burbaitah), Wadi Fifa, and Wadi Khneizerah.

Habitat. Fresh and brackish streams and springs with gravel bottoms. Usually in moderate currents.

Biology. Feeds almost exclusively on algae. Tolerates high water temperatures. Spawns in groups in late spring and early summer.

Conservation status. EN; extirpated from Israel. Population in Ain al-Haditha is now restricted to a very short stream, perhaps 300m long,which is affected by non-native Oreochromis aureus . Downstream, spring water is entirely used for irrigation.

Further reading. Krupp 1982 (description); Krupp & Schneider 1989 (description); Geiger et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny); Hamidan et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny, morphological comparisons).