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  • Garra rufa
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Scientific Name Garra rufa  (Heckel, 1843)
Common Name Doctor Fish
Type Locality Aleppo, Syria.
Etymology Garra: Name based on a vernacular Indian name. 
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Size 140mm or 5.5" SL. Find near, nearer or same sized spp.
Identification Fishes of the genus Garra Hamilton, 1822 are characteristic in having a more or less well-developed suctorial disc on the undersurface just behind the mouth.These fishes inhabit rapid running waters and maintain themselves against swift currents by clinging to the substratum, mainly by means of their suctorial disc but also by the horizontally placed paired fins, especially the pectorals. The genus is widely distributed from Southern China, across Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East to Northern and Central Africa.There are more than 170 nominal species of Garra.
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Distribution Eurasia: In the Jordan, Orontes, and Tigris-Euphrates river basins. Also in some coastal rivers in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Jordan (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Euphrates, Tigris (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Euphrates (click on these areas to find other species found there)
Orontes (click on these areas to find other species found there)

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IUCN Red List Category Least Concern, range map and more is available on the IUCN species page. Last assessed 2013.
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Breeding Reports There is no breeding report.
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Reference Ichthyologie [von Syrien]. In Russegger v. 1 (pt 2), pp 1071 [81].
Registered Keepers There is no registered keeper.
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Last Update 2020 Jul 31 06:49 (species record created: 2012 May 09 04:03)