Garra variabilis

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 225-226

Garra variabilis

Common name. Small mouth garra.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species of Garra in Mediterranean and Gulf basins by: ○ one pair of barbels / ○ 20−26 gill rakers / ● gular disc small and narrow / ○ usually 7½ branched dorsal rays / ○ tubercles absent on upper posterior eye margin / ○ body brown or grey, usually mottled / ○ lateral and distal margin of labrum of gular disc free from skin of chin / ○ eye fully developed / ○ 32−38 lateral-line scales. Size up to 140 mm SL.

Distribution. Orontes in Syria and Lebanon and Syrian Nahr al-Kabir (South) in the Mediterranean basin. Also, Upper Euphrates and Tigris in Türkiye, Syria, and Iraq.

Habitat. Streams, springs, and rivers with slow-flowing or stagnant water, often with dense vegetation or submerged wood.

Biology. No data.

Conservation status. LC; extirpated from Qweiq.

Remarks. Not recorded from the Iranian part of Tigris drainage. While there are records from the Tigris in Iraq, it could not be found in Greater and Lesser Zab and the Sirvan, three tributaries of Tigris in Iraq.

Further reading. Geiger et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny, placement in Garra ); Hamidan et al. 2014 (molecular phylogeny); Behrens-Chapuis et al. 2015 (molecular phylogeny); Esmaeili et al. 2016c (molecular phylogeny); Kaya et al. 2016 (distribution).

Garra widdowsoni ; Haditha, Iraq; ~ 50 mm SL.