Red garra

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{redirect|Doctor fish|other fish with this common name|Fish doctor}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Speciesbox | image = Garra Rufa.JPG | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name = iucn>{{cite iucn| author = Freyhof, J. | year= 2014 | title = ''Garra rufa'' | article-number=e.T19086922A19223063 }}</ref> | genus = Garra | species = rufa | display_parents = 3 | authority = (Heckel, 1843) | synonyms = *''Discognathus crenulatus'' Heckel 1846–49<ref name=Biolib >{{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}}</ref> *''Discognathus lamta'' non Hamilton 1822<ref name=Biolib/> *''Discognathus obtusus'' Heckel 1843<ref name=Biolib/> *''Discognathus rufus'' Heckel 1843<ref name=Biolib/> *''Garra lamta'' non Hamilton 1822<ref name=Biolib/> *''Garra rufa crenulata'' Heckel 1844<ref name=Biolib/><ref name=GBIF>{{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}}</ref> }}

The '''red garra''' ('''''Garra rufa'''''), also known as the '''doctor fish''' or '''nibble fish''', is a species of cyprinid native to a wide range of freshwater habitats in subtropical parts of Western Asia.<ref name=fishbase>{{FishBase | genus = Garra | species = rufa | month = August| year = 2016}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> This small fish typically is up to about {{convert|14|cm|in|abbr=on}} in total length,<ref name=fishbase/> but some individuals can reach as much as {{cvt|24|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Coad2016>{{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 }}</ref>

In the wild, ''G. rufa'' feeds on detritus, algae, and tiny animals (arthropods and other zooplankton).<ref name=Coad2016/>

==Distribution, habitat, and taxonomy== As traditionally defined, ''G. rufa'' is native to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Iran.<ref name = iucn/> 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.<ref name = iucn/><ref name=fishbase/><ref name=Coad2016/> It lives in rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs, ponds, and lakes, although it tends to avoid stagnant waters.<ref name = iucn/><ref name=fishbase/> It often is common or abundant, even in areas that are heavily influenced by humans, such as polluted canals.<ref name = iucn/><ref name=Coad2016/>

The taxonomy of this species has been labelled with uncertainty. As traditionally defined (''sensu lato''), some morphological variations exist over its relatively large range and it has been recognized for several years that it likely was a species complex.<ref name=Coad2016/><ref name=SeriouslyFish>{{cite web | title=''Garra rufa'' (HECKEL, 1843) | url=https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/garra-rufa/ | publisher=SeriouslyFish | access-date=29 October 2019 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Hamidan2014>{{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 }}</ref><ref name=Esmaeli2016>{{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 }}</ref><ref name=Baycelebi2018>{{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 }}</ref>

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.<ref name=Hamidan2014/><ref name=Esmaeli2016/><ref name=Baycelebi2018/> Finally the complex includes four cavefish: ''G. lorestanensis'', ''G. tashanensis'', ''G. typhlops'' and ''G. widdowsoni''.<ref name=Esmaeli2016/>

==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,<ref name="thedailyrecord">[https://thedailyrecord.com/2008/07/21/virginia-spa-creates-splash-by-offering-fish-pedicures/ Virginia Spa Creates Splash by Offering Fish Pedicures]</ref> 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.<ref name=Biolib /><ref name=GBIF /><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name=wsj /> In 2011, the UK Health Protection Agency issued a report assigning a "very low" risk of transferring infection from the procedure.<ref>{{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|archive-date=10 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310010153/https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/fish-pedicure-risk-very-low/}}</ref>

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".<ref name="wsj">[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123776729360609465 Ban on Feet-Nibbling Fish Leaves Nail Salons on the Hook]</ref> The procedure is legal in Quebec, with a few clinics in Montreal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://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}}</ref> Animal-rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

''Garra rufa'' fish seen in the spa and aquarium trade mostly originate from commercial facilities in Israel and to a lesser degree Turkey.<ref name=SeriouslyFish/> 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.<ref name=Hamidan2014/><ref name=Baycelebi2018/><ref name=Gophen2018>{{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=1 July 2025 | s2cid=51811751 | doi-access=free }}</ref> It is legally protected from capture from the wild in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting. Despite its ability to survive in polluted waters,<ref name = iucn/> the species requires clean, well-oxygenated, and moving waters to thrive in an aquarium.<ref name=SeriouslyFish/> 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 exposure in psoriasis treatment, fish pedicure is known as ichthyotherapy.<ref>{{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}}</ref> {{gallery|align=center |File:Doctor fish2.jpg|Doctor fish cleaning a bather's feet. |File:Doctor fish.jpg|Some spas provide large fish ponds with thousands of doctor fish in them. |File:Red garra - Kanagawa - 2024 07 28.webm|Doctor Fish actively feeding }}

==See also== * Cleaner fish

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Garra Category:Animal-assisted therapy Category:Freshwater fish of Asia Category:Fish of West Asia Category:Fish described in 1843 Category:Taxa named by Johann Jakob Heckel