Arabibarbus grypus (Heckel, 1843)

Freyhof, JÖrg, Yoğurtçuoğlu, Baran, Jouladeh-Roudbar, Arash & Kaya, Cüneyt, 2025, Handbook of Freshwater Fishes of West Asia, De Gruyter : 91-93

Arabibarbus grypus

Common name. Shabout.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from species of Luciobarbus , Barbus , Carasobarbus , and Mesopotamichthys in West Asia by: ○ two pairs of barbels / ○ body cylindrical / ○ last unbranched dorsal ray weakly ossified, segmented,without serration at its posterior margin / ○ dorsal origin above or

in front of pelvic origin / ○ 29−36, usually 30−35, total lateral-line scales / ○ posterior barbel length 4−6 % SL / ○ median lobe on lower lip well developed, often hypertrophied. Size up to 1300 mm SL and 30 kg.

Distribution. Euphrates, Tigris, Karun, and Karkheh drainages, Qweiq (now extirpated), and rivers of Persian Gulf in Iran south to Minab.

Habitat. Large to medium-sized rivers with moderate currents. Often found in reservoirs. Spawns on sand, gravel, or submerged vegetation in fast-flowing waters.

Biology. Males mature at about 400 mm SL, females at about 450 mm SL, first spawning at 3−5 years. Lives up to 17 years, probably much longer. Spawns in Karun late April–early August and May−July in Atatürk reservoir, usually during floods when water is turbid. Migrations occur to fast-flowing stretches of rivers. Males congregate at spawning sites. Spawning migrations typically begin in April or May. Spawns only once a year. Appears in schools on spawning grounds just before dark and remains there until just before midnight, making loud noises by splashing, jumping, and chasing. Eggs are transparent and sticky and attached to stones or plants. In Iraq, reported to migrate upstream during hot, dry summers and then return downstream in September and October. Predominantly herbivorous, feeding on algae and leaves, fruits, and seeds of higher plants, with small amounts of aquatic invertebrates and fish.

Conservation status. VU; threatened mainly by overfishing, to a lesser extent by pollution, water abstraction, and dams. Extirpated from Qweiq.

Remarks. Reported to weigh up to 100 kg, but such records probably refer to Luciobarbus esocinus . Often reported from the Orontes drainage, but there are only two records of two individuals each from Hamah in Syria in 1881, and the species has never been recorded from the Orontes since. Likely, these two fish were later mislabelled or transported from the Euphrates or Qweiq to Hamah as food fish. Often placed in Asian genus Tor .

Further reading. Karaman 1971 (description, as Tor grypus ); Coad 2010a (distribution, biology); Borkenhagen 2014 (morphology, generic position); Coad 2021a (biology, morphology).

Tigris at Hasankeyf in 2009. Large rivers with diverse structures are a typical habitat of Arabibarbus grypus .

Arabibarbus hadhrami ; Wadi Hadhramaut drainage, Yemen; 129 mm SL. © S. Tränkner/ SGN.