Garra barreimiae Fowler & Steinitz, 1956

Kirchner, Sandra, Kruckenhauser, Luise, Pichler, Arthur, Borkenhagen, Kai & Freyhof, Jörg, 2020, Revision of the Garra species of the Hajar Mountains in Oman and the United Arab Emirates with the description of two new species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), Zootaxa 4751 (3), pp. 521-545 : 527-528

Garra barreimiae Fowler & Steinitz, 1956

( Fig. 3 )

Garra barreimiae Fowler & Steinitz, 1956:262 (type locality: Buraimi [= Al Buraimi], Oman);

Garra barreimiae shawkahensis Banister & Clarke, 1977:136 (type locality: Wadi Shawkah, Oman);

Garra barreimiae West Clade ( Pichler et al. 2018, Kirchner et al. submitted).

Material examined. FSJF 4077 , 26 , 25–50 mm SL; Oman: Wadi Ajran about 3 km south-east of Ajran, 24.024°N, 56.196°E .— FSJF 4073 , 4 , 40–49 mm SL; Oman: Falaj at mosque in Al Juwayf, 24.549°N, 56.105°E .— FSJF 4075 , 18 , 37–74 mm SL; Oman: Wadi Qahfi , 24.713°N, 56.186°E .

Material used in molecular genetic analysis. NMW-100045; FSJF DNA- 3235; Oman: Wadi Ajran about 3 km south-east of Ajran , 24.024°N, 56.196°E (GenBank accession number: MN830405 , MN830867 , MN830868 ).— NMW-100036 ; Oman: Hafeet , 23.993°N, 55.843°E (GenBank accession number: MN 830404 ).—NMW-100037 ; Oman: Al Hayyal , 23.434°N, 56.740°E (GenBank accession number: MN 830403 ).—NMW-100044 ; FSJF DNA- 3231 ; Oman: Falaj at mosque in Al Juwayf , 24.549°N, 56.105°E (GenBank accession numbers: MN830407 , MN830863 , MN830864 ).—NMW-100046 ; Oman: Khutwa , 24.321°N, 56.130°E (GenBank accession number: MN 830406 ).— FSJF DNA-3233 ; Oman: Wadi Qahfi , 24.713°N, 56.186°E (GenBank accession numbers: MN830865 , MN830866 ).— FSJF DNA-2488 ; UAE: Wadi Shawkah, in Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, 25.098°N, 56.109°E (GenBank accession numbers: KM214685 , KM214738 , KM214758 , KM214779 ).— FSJF DNA-2489 ; UAE: Wadi Wurayah in Emirate of Al-Fujaira, 25.398°N, 56.269°E. (GenBank accession numbers: KM214734 , KM214767 , KM214783 ) .

Diagnosis. Garra barreimiae is distinguished from the other species of Garra in the Hajar Mountains by having 15–18 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first gill arch (vs. 10–14) and an orange spot present at the upper opercle (vs. absent). It also has a strongly mottled flank pattern with individual or series of orange midlateral scales (vs. orange scales absent in G. gallagheri , G. longipinnis and many individuals of G. shamal ), and bold black middle caudal-fin rays with white membranes (vs. middle caudal-fin rays and membranes slightly darker or the same colour as remaining caudal-fin rays and membranes in G. shamal ). G. barreimiae is further distinguished by the dark margins of the flank scales below the lateral line being very indistinct or absent (vs. present in G. longipinnis ), having a white dorsal-fin tip (vs. evenly-coloured dorsal fin in G. gallagheri , G. longipinnis and G. sharq ), and usually orange anal- and paired fins (vs. greenish, grey or black in G. gallagheri , G. longipinnis , and G. sharq ).

Distribution. Found in wadis on both flanks of the northern Hajar Mountains in UAE and Northern Oman, with a range extending southwards from the southern edge of the Ru’us al-Jibal range (Musandam Peninsula) to Al Hayyal on the Gulf of Oman coast and at least to Wadi al-Kabir and its tributaries on the interior flank ( Fig. 2 ).

Remarks. When Banister & Clarke (1977) described G. b. shawkahensis, they examined two juvenile paratypes of G. barreimiae (33, 34 mm SL), which were of “fragile condition” (p. 133) and not closely examined. The authors did examine fishes from Muscat and Wadi Sahtan (in the coastal basin of Oman) in detail and identified them as G. b. barreimiae since they possessed 11–14 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first gill arch (vs. 15–18 in G. b. shawkahensis). However, the individuals that Banister and Clarke identified as G. b. barreimiae do not conform to those collected in the area of the type locality Al Buraimi (15–18 gill rakers), and they in fact redescribed G. barreimiae which is conspecific with G. b. shawkahensis. Moreover, the specimens Banister & Clarke identified as G. b. barreimiae represent a distinct species, which is described below as G. shamal . The description of Garra barreimiae wurayahi from the Emirate of Fujairah by Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa (2009) does not fulfil the criteria of the ICZN, therefore the name is not available. This population is here identified as G. barreimiae .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Records of Garra species from the Hajar Mountains based on material analysed in this study.

FIGURE 3. Garra barreimiae, from top: FSJF 4077, 50 mm SL; Wadi Ajran, Oman; FSJF 4073, 49 mm SL; Al Juwayf, Oman; FSJF 4075, 74 mm SL; Wadi Qahfi, Oman.