red garra
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{about|the freshwater fish used for treating skin diseases|the species sometimes called "doctor fish" in the UK|Tench|the fish known as the "surgeonfish"|Acanthuridae|people known as "Dr. Fish"|Fish (surname)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Garra Rufa.JPG
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = {{cite iucn| author = Freyhof, J. | year= 2014 | title = Garra rufa | page=e.T19086922A19223063 }}
| genus = Garra
| species = rufa
| display_parents = 3
| authority = (Heckel, 1843)
| synonyms = *Discognathus crenulatus
Heckel 1846–49{{cite web |last=Zicha |first=Ondřej |title= Garra rufa |work=BioLib |year=2009 |url=https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxonnames/id147650/ |access-date=28 June 2010}}
- Discognathus lamta
non Hamilton 1822 - Discognathus obtusus
Heckel 1843 - Discognathus rufus
Heckel 1843 - Garra lamta
non Hamilton 1822 - Garra rufa crenulata
Heckel 1844{{cite web |title=Search Results for: Garra rufa |work=Global Biodiversity Information Facility |url=http://data.gbif.org/search/Garra%20rufa |access-date=28 June 2010}}
}}
The red garra (Garra rufa), also known as the doctor fish or nibble fish, is a species of cyprinid that is native to a wide range of freshwater habitats in subtropical parts of Western Asia.{{FishBase | genus = Garra | species = rufa | month = August| year = 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Jarvis |first=Peter L. |title=Biological Synopsis of Garra rufa |publisher=Science Branch, Centre of Expertise for Aquatic Risk Assessment, Central and Arctic Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada |location=Burington, Ontario |date=2011 |series=Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2946 |url=https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/mpo-dfo/Fs97-4-2946-eng.pdf |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Government of Canada Publications}} This small fish typically is up to about {{convert|14|cm|in|abbr=off|sp=us}} in total length, but locally individuals can reach as much as {{cvt|24|cm|in|round=0.5}}.{{cite web | author=Coad, B.W. | date=14 November 2016 | title=Cyprinidae: Garra to Vimba | url=http://www.briancoad.com/Species%20Accounts/Cyprinidae%20Garra%20to%20Vimba.htm | work=Freshwater Fishes of Iran | access-date=29 October 2019 | archive-date=8 January 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108042711/http://www.briancoad.com/Species%20Accounts/Cyprinidae%20Garra%20to%20Vimba.htm | url-status=dead }}
In the wild, Garra rufa feed on detritus, algae and tiny animals (arthropods and other zooplankton).
Distribution, habitat and taxonomy
As traditionally defined, Garra rufa is native to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Iran. Some of the main systems where it is found are the Kızıl, Seyhan, Ceyhan, Orontes, Queiq, Jordan, Tigris–Euphrates, Kor, and Mond river basins, but the species also inhabits other coastal river basins in the Levant and Iran, as well as the endorheic Lake Maharlu system. It lives in rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs, ponds and lakes, although it tends to avoid stagnant waters. It often is common or abundant, even in areas that are heavily influenced by humans like polluted canals.
The taxonomy of this species has been labelled with uncertainty. As traditionally defined (sensu lato), there are some morphological variations over its relatively large range and it has been recognized for several years that it likely was a species complex.{{cite web | title=Garra rufa (HECKEL, 1843) | url=https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/garra-rufa/ | publisher=SeriouslyFish | access-date=29 October 2019 }} Several subspecies have been described, but their validity is questionable and in the last few decades authorities have generally not recognized them. Nevertheless, reviews published since 2014 have provided genetic and morphologic evidence for recognizing some of them as separate species, while other new species have been described from the species complex. This includes G. turcica (formerly a subspecies) from its Turkish range, except the Tigris–Euphrates system, G. jordanica (new species) from the northern Dead Sea basin, including the Jordan River, in Israel, Jordan and Syria, G. gymnothorax (formerly a subspecies) from the Karun, Balarud and Bashar systems in Iran, G. mondica (new species) of the Mond River basin in Iran, and G. amirhosseini (new species) from the Sartang-e-Bijar Spring in the Tigris River system in Iran. G. jordanica and G. turcica have entirely separate ranges from true G. rufa (thus limiting its range to the Tigris–Euphrates system and river systems in Iran), but the others do overlap in range with true G. rufa or at least occur in the same river basins.{{cite journal | author1=Hamidan, N.H. | author2=M.F. Geiger | author3=J. Freyhof | year=2014 | title=Garra jordanica, a new species from the Dead Sea basin with remarks on the relationship of G. ghorensis, G. tibanica and G. rufa (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) | journal=Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters | volume=25 | issue=3 | pages=223–236 }}{{cite journal | author1=Esmaeli, H.R. | author2=G. Sayyadzadeh | author3=B.W. Coad | author4=S. Eagderi | year=2016 | title=Review of the genus Garra Hamilton, 1822 in Iran with description of a new species: a morpho-molecular approach (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) | journal=Iranian Journal of Ichthyology | volume=3 | issue=2 | pages=82–121 }}{{cite journal | author1=BayÇelebİ, E. | author2=C. Kaya | author3=D. Turan | author4=S.A. ErgÜden | author5=J. Freyhof | year=2018 | title=Redescription of Garra turcica from southern Anatolia (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) | journal=Zootaxa | volume=4524 | issue=2 | pages=227–236 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4524.2.6 | pmid=30486123 | s2cid=54159379 }}
Other members of the G. rufa complex are G. barreimiae, G. elegans, G. ghorensis, G. longipinnis, G. nana, G. persica, G. rossica and G. sahilia, but these were generally recognized as valid species many years ago. Finally the complex includes four cavefish: G. lorestanensis, G. tashanensis, G. typhlops and G. widdowsoni.
Fish pedicure
Doctor fish facilities at spa resorts exist in many countries worldwide. In 2006, doctor fish spa resorts opened in Kangal, Turkey, Hakone, Japan, and Umag, Croatia, where the fish are used to clean the bathers at the spa.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} In 2008, two widely known doctor fish pedicure services were opened in the United States in Fairfax County, Virginia,[https://thedailyrecord.com/2008/07/21/virginia-spa-creates-splash-by-offering-fish-pedicures/ Virginia Spa Creates Splash by Offering Fish Pedicures] and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wisconsin ordered the closure of the doctor fish service shortly after its opening. In 2010, the first spa opened in the United Kingdom in Sheffield.{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Step-right-in--the.6139067.jp|title=Step right in – the Doctor Fish will see you now|last=Slack|first=Martin|date=10 March 2010|work=The Yorkshire Post|access-date=4 July 2010}} In 2011, the UK Health Protection Agency issued a report assigning a "very low" risk of transferring infection from the procedure.{{cite web|title=Fish pedicure risk 'very low'|url=https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/fish-pedicure-risk-very-low/|publisher=NHS England|access-date=9 March 2018}}
The practice is banned in several of the states in the United States and Canadian provinces as cosmetology regulators believe the practice is unsanitary, with the Wall Street Journal saying that "cosmetology regulations generally mandate that tools need to be discarded or sanitized after each use. But epidermis-eating fish are too expensive to throw away".[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123776729360609465 Ban on Feet-Nibbling Fish Leaves Nail Salons on the Hook] The procedure is legal in Quebec, with a few clinics in Montreal.{{cite web|url=http://www.cyberpresse.ca/vivre/mode/beaute/201007/08/01-4296469-piscipedicurie-inusitee-controversee-et-non-reglementee.php|title=Piscipédicurie: inusitée, controversée et non réglementée|last=Galipeau|first=Silvia|date=8 July 2010|work=La Presse|location=Canada|access-date=8 July 2010}} The animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which opposes all human use of animals, denounces the practice, citing callous methods of international transportation and suggesting that the fish are deliberately starved between treatments to force them to eat an abnormal amount of food.{{cite web|title=What No One Told You about Those Disgusting Fish Pedicures|date=22 August 2017 |url=https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/fish-pedicures-dangerous-and-cruel/|publisher=PETA|access-date=9 March 2018}}
Garra rufa seen in the spa and aquarium trade mostly originate from commercial facilities in Israel and to a lesser degree Turkey. Since Israeli and many (but not all) Turkish populations of "G. rufa" now are recognized as G. jordanica and G. turcica instead, this leads to questions over the true identity of most of the fish seen in the trade.{{cite journal | author1=Gophen, M. | year=2018 | title=Fishery Management in Lake Kinneret: A Review | journal=Journal of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development | volume=2018 | issue=1 | pages=1–10 | doi=10.29011/2577-1493.100040 | doi-broken-date=13 January 2025 | s2cid=51811751 | doi-access=free }} It is legally protected from capture from the wild in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting. Despite its ability to survive in polluted waters, the species requires clean, well-oxygenated and moving waters to thrive in an aquarium. For treatment of skin diseases, aquarium specimens are not well-suited as the skin-feeding behavior fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply can be scarce and unpredictable.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}
When used as a prelude intended to enhance the effects of ultraviolet light expoure in psoriasis treatment, fish pedicure is known as ichthyotherapy.{{cite web | title=The word: Doctor fish | website=New Scientist | date=11 July 2007 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526122-000-the-word-doctor-fish/ | ref={{sfnref | New Scientist | 2007}} | access-date=1 September 2024}}