Garra sindhi Lyon, Geiger & Freyhof, 2016, new species
Creators: name: Lyon, Robert Gary
name: Geiger, Matthias F.
name: Freyhof, Jörg
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Cypriniformes
Cyprinidae
Garra
Garra sindhi

description: Garra sindhi, new species
(Figs. 2–6)
Holotype. ONHM 4196, 82 mm SL; Sultanate of Oman: Dhofar prov.: Wadi Andhur, 17°34'6.956"N 54°42'17.518"E; 3 Aug 2015, R.G. Lyon.
Paratypes. ONHM 4197, 3, 38–85 mm SL; same data as holotype; Genbank accession number: KX244649, KX244650, KX244651, KX244652). —FSJF 3527, 5, 39–52 mm SL; ONHM 4219, 30, 30–57 mm SL; Sultanate of Oman: Dhofar prov.: Wadi Andhur, 17°34'13.224"N 54°42'12.211"E; 9 Nov 2015, R.G. Lyon.
Diagnosis. Garra sindhi is distinguished from the other two species of Garra of the Omani Dhofar province by the following combination of characters. It differs from G. s m a r t i by having the belly and breast behind the pectoral-fin origin fully covered by deeply embedded scales (vs. scales absent in front of the posterior pectoral-fin base), 8–12 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (vs. 13–15), maximum body depth at about middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin (vs. maximum body depth at dorsal-fin origin), a prominent hump on back in some individuals (vs. no hump) and the oral disc being wider than long (vs. longer than wide). Garra sindhi is distinguished from G. dunsirei, a troglomorphic species, by having normally developed eyes, visible in ventral view (vs. very small, not visible in ventral view), 14–16 circumpeduncular scales (vs. 12), 8–12 gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (vs. 6–7) and breast and belly fully covered by deeply embedded scales (vs. scales reduced or absent). Garra lautior and G. mamshuqua are two species from Wadi Hadramut, which is situated about 600 km west of Wadi Andhur. Garra sindhi is distinguished from G. lautior by having a fully-scaled breast and belly (vs. naked in front of anal fin) and from G. mamshuqua by lacking tubercles on snout (vs. present), and the central callous pad being much longer than the anteromedian fold (vs. about equal). Our molecular data show that G. sindhi is only distantly related to the Garra species found in the north of Oman (G. barreimiae, G. gallagheri, G. longipinnis) and it is distinguished from these by lacking tubercles on the head (vs. present at least in mature males).
Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244647 93-82-97 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244648 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244646 95-99-99 Garra gallagheri Wadi Bani Khalid Oman 2578 KX244645 Garra longipinnis Hotta Oman CN7572 KM214755 88-99-96 Garra longipinnis Jabal al Akhdar Oman CN5897a KM214752
74-71-90 Garra longipinnis Jabal al Akhdar Oman CN5897b KM214756 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-012 KM214685 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-011 KM214758 99-100-100 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-013 KM214738 Garra barreimiae Shawkah UAE NHUAE-014 KM214779
99-99-99 Garra barreimiae Wuray UAE NHUAE-001 KM214734 Garra barreimiae Wuray UAE NHUAE-006 KM214767 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-015 KM214774 Garra sahilia Sanaa Yemen CN872 KM214689 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-014 KM214786 99-100-99 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-016 KM214718 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-012 KM214724 Garra sahilia SA NHKSA-026 KM214799 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-021 KM214704
Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-022 KM214742
87-88-85 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-020 KM214723
91-93-91 Garra buettikerii SA NHKSA-024 KM214729
Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-027 KM214686
Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-028 KM214749
94-94-92 Garra tibanica Wadi Damad SA NHKSA-031 KM214789
97-100-100 100 Garra dunserei Dhofar Oman CN7766 KP069477
99 Garra dunserei Dhofar Oman CN7771 KP069476
100
Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN5874 KM214744
99
82-93-85 98 Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN5893 KM214699
97 Garra smarti Hasaq Oman CN773 KM214732
67-65-73 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244649
Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244650
99-99-99 Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244651
Garra sindhi Wadi Andhur Oman 2559 KX244652
Garra variabilis Orontes Syria 1159 KJ553391
Garra variabilis Orontes Syria 1159 KJ553567
0.02 Description. See Figures 2–6 for general appearance and Table 1 for morphometric data. Body elongated, moderately compressed laterally, more compressed in region of caudal peduncle. Dorsal head profile rising gently, almost straight, more or less continuous with dorsal body profile to about middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin. Dorsal profile decreasing between middle between nape and dorsal-fin origin and about base of last dorsalfin ray. Slightly decreasing until caudal peduncle. Ventral profile more or less straight to anal-fin origin. Head small, with flat interorbital distance, height at nape less than head length, width at nape greater than depth at nape, without tubercles. Snout pointed, transverse groove absent. Proboscis not or only slightly elevated from depressed rostral surface. Depressed rostral fold poorly expressed. No groove between transverse lobe and lateral surface. Eye placed dorso-laterally in anterior half of head. Barbels in two pairs; rostral barbel antero-laterally located, shorter than eye diameter; maxillary barbel at corner of mouth, shorter than rostral barbel. Rostral cap welldeveloped, fimbriate, papillate on ventral surface. Upper lip present as a thin band of papillae. Upper jaw almost or completely covered by rostral cap. Lower jaw slightly curved or straight. Disc elliptical, shorter than wide or as long as wide and narrower than head width through base of maxillary barbel; papillae on anteromedian fold of same size, regularly arranged; groove between anteromedian fold and central callous-pad narrow and deep in some individuals or shallow and wide in others, papillae on latero-posterior flap of same size and distance as on papillae on anteromedian fold; anterior marginal surface of central callous pad without or with sparsely arranged small papillae; papillae on anteromedian fold and on latero-posterior flap almost or completely absent in some individuals; posterior margin of latero-posterior flap extending vertical to anterior or posterior margin of eye; in some individuals, only the posterior tip of latero-posterior flap is free while in others, the whole rim is free. Largest recorded specimen 85 mm SL, not preserved.
Dorsal fin with 3 simple and 7½ branched rays, last simple ray slightly shorter than or equally long as head length; distal margin concave; origin at middle between snout tip and last scale on caudal-fin base; inserted anterior to vertical from pelvic-fin origin; first branched ray longest, tip of last branched ray reaching vertical of anus. Pectoral fin with 1 simple and 12 branched rays, reaching midway or slightly beyond distance between pectoral- and pelvic-fin origin, length shorter than head length. Pelvic fin with 1 simple and 7–8 branched rays, reaching to, or slightly in front of anus, origin closer to anal-fin origin than to pectoral-fin origin, inserted below second or fourth branched dorsal-fin ray. Anal fin short, with 3 simple and 5½ branched rays; first branched ray longest, reaching to dark grey or black blotch on posterior caudal peduncle or slightly anterior to it; distal margin concave; origin almost in middle between caudal-fin base and pelvic-fin origin. 2 scales between anus and anal-fin origin. Caudal fin forked; with 9+8 branched rays; tip of lobes pointed; upper lobe longer than lower lobe. 8–12 small and very short gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch. Lateral line complete, with 34 scales on body and 2 scales on anterior caudal fin. Transverse scale rows above lateral line 3½–4½; between lateral line and pelvic-fin origin 3½ and between lateral line and anal-fin origin 3½–4½. Circumpeduncular scale rows 14–16. Predorsal scales smaller than flank scales, irregularly arranged, anterior predorsal scales deeply embedded. Belly and breast behind pectoral-fin origin scaled, scales deeply embedded. One long axillary scale at base of pelvic fin, and 6 – 8 scales between posteriormost pelvic-fin base and anus.
FIGURE. 3. Garra sindhi, ONHM 4196, holotype, 82.5 mm SL, lateral, ventral and dorsal view of head; Oman: Wadi Andhur.
holotype paratypes (n=34)
Colouration. In living specimens: Head, back and flank brown with an olive green hue (Fig. 6). A faith yellow or golden mid-dorsal stripe on back. Ventral surface pale white. Flank darkest along midlateral line with an irregular shaped, wide, dark-brown stripe. Caudal, dorsal, pectoral and pelvic-fins with yellowish or greenish rays and hyaline membranes. Branched dorsal-fin ray 4–7½ with a black spot slightly above base, in some individuals black spot continuous with black dorsal-fin rays. Anal fin hyaline or with greenish pigments at its distal part. A dark-brown blotch behind upper edge of operculum. A dark-brown blotch at middle of posterior-most caudal peduncle in individuals smaller than 40 mm SL.
In ethanol-preserved specimens: Head, back and flank brown. Ventral surface pale grey. Flank darker brown along midlateral line than on upper and lower flank, scales with dark-brown margin and pale-brown centre giving the flank a slightly reticulate pattern. Individual flank scales whitish in centre. Caudal, dorsal, pectoral and pelvicfins with grey rays and hyaline membranes. Branched dorsal-fin ray 4–7½ with a black spot slightly above base, in some individuals, black spot continuous with black dorsal-fin rays. Anal fin hyaline or grey at its distal part. A dark-brown blotch behind upper edge of operculum. A dark-brown blotch at middle of posterior-most caudal peduncle in individuals smaller than 40 mm SL.
Distribution. Garra sindhi was found in a large pool (Fig. 7) in the lower Wadi Andhur in the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve. Wadi Andhur is an endorheic drainage flowing from the Samhan plateau to the north of the Jebel Samhan escarpment (García et al. 2015). In areal pictures on Google satellite maps, pools with water are also visible higher up in Wadi Andhur as well as in adjacent wadis and G. sindhi might be more widespread. Further research is recommended to clarify if this is in fact the case.
Habitat. Wadi Andhur originates in the Samhan mountain and flows through narrow canyons north to the sand-gravel desert, which forms part of the Nejd. Wadi Andhur is situated in a hyper-arid region, with rainfall ranging from less than 100 mm to between 100–250 mm per year (Kwarteng et al. 2009). Flow is infrequent and unpredictable. Flood events follow heavy storms and cyclones that occur erratically (Kwarteng et al. 2009). Garra sindhi was found in a large pool of about 40 × 35 m with stagnant water. The average depth of the pool was around 60 cm with a maximum depth of about 80 cm. The water in the pool was clear and Spirogyra sp. and Ceratophyllum demersum were growing along the edges of the bank, as well as several stands of Typha domingensis. The pool has a coarse gravel bed of round limestone pebbles. The pool is frequently visited by livestock and wildlife. Ardea cinerea, Ixobrychus sinensis and Podiceps nigricollis were observed foraging at the pool.
Conservation status. Beside the pool, where G. sindhi was found, there are a few much smaller shallow pools upstream, several metres off the main pool. If the species is restricted to these pools, it would be one of the rarest freshwater fish species in the Western Palaearctic. However, several other pools in the upper reaches of Wadi Andhur and in adjacent wadis are visible from areal pictures and the species might be more widespread than presently estimated. Garra dunsirei and G. s m a r t i, two other species from the region, are also restricted to very small water-bodies. The population of G. sindhi appears to be healthy and more than 1000 individuals were recorded at the time of the two visits.
Etymology. Named for Cynthia “ Sindhi ” Diane Powell in recognition of her support for the first authors work over a decade.
Remarks. Garra dunsirei, G. s m a r t i and G. sindhi are three closely related species endemic to the Omani Dhofar province. While G. dunsirei and G. s m a r t i occur in drainage systems flowing to the sea, Wadi Andhur drains to the north, into the Nejd. The weak genetic differentiation between these species suggests a recent origin, which could be verified if geological data were available for this region. It is, however, not paralleled by limited morphological divergence among them, since all three species can be readily identified by their morphology. The existence of species with low genetic divergence corroborates the nature of evolution as a gradual process and highlights the key role taxonomists play in building and monitoring DNA barcode reference libraries used for specimen identification.
The Garra population inhabiting Wadi Bani Khalid in the north of Oman had been described as G. barreimiae gallagheri by Krupp (1988). It has already been included in the molecular study by Kruckenhauser et al. (2011), who did not draw any taxonomic conclusions from their study. We found G. gallagheri to be related to G. longipinnis. The study by Kruckenhauser et al. (2011) suggests that the species diversity of Garra in the north of Oman might be underestimated and more than the three actually recognised species (G. barreimiae, G. gallagheri, G. longipinnis) might exist in that small area.
description: Published as part of Lyon, Robert Gary, Geiger, Matthias F. & Freyhof, Jörg, 2016, Garra sindhi, a new species from the Jebel Samhan Nature Reserve in Oman (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), pp. 79-88 in Zootaxa 4154 (1) on pages 80-87, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4154.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/256492