Aphaniops dispar (Rüppell, 1829)

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Fricke, Ronald, Sungur, Sevil, Çapar, Osman Bahadir & Golani, Daniel, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Israel; a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5369 (4), pp. 451-484 : 470

Aphaniops dispar (Rüppell, 1829) [N]—Arabian toothcarp; Na’avit ha’mlyhot

Taxonomy. Original description: Lebias dispar Rüppell, 1829: 66 , pl. 18, figs. 1-2 [Red Sea; lectotype: SMF 821].— Israel synonyms: Aphanius dispar (Rüppell, 1829) .—Revisions: Teimori et al. (2018) and Esmaeili et al. (2020).—Illustration: Rüppell (1829: pl. 18, figs. 1-2) as Lebias dispar, Banister & Clarke (1977: 144, fig. 30) as Aphanius dispar .

Status in Israel. First record from Israel by Richardson (1856); confirmed by Krupp & Schneider (1989).—Israel material: HUJ.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Israel: En Feshkha (Enot Zuqim) and springs running to the Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea watersheds.—Distribution in River Basin: 1-Western Basin, 2-Dead Sea Basin.—General distribution: Middle East: Shores of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and easternmost Mediterranean Sea basin; Socotra (northwestern Indian Ocean).—Distribution in Ecoregion: 436-Coastal Levant, 438- Jordan River.—Habitat: This species is euryhyaline, inshore habitats with dense structures of vegetation or stones. Also common in coral reefs in the Red Sea and widely distributed in lower parts of rivers, streams, and all kind of inland water bodies, especially if these have brackish waters. Very rarely reported in freshwater habitats. Spawns on plants, algae and rock fissures. Freshwater, brackish.

Economic importance. No commercial importance. Has the potential to be used as aquarium fish.

Conservation. Conservation Status in Israel: Unknown.—IUCN: LC ( IUCN 2023).—Threats: HAB.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered a keystone species.—Decline status: Stable.—Low priority for conservation action.