''Garra geba'' is a species of

cyprinid fish Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest vert ...

in the genus ''

Garra ''Garra'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae. These fish are one example of the "log suckers", sucker-mouthed barbs and other cyprinids commonly kept in aquaria to keep down algae. The doctor fish of Anatolia and the Middle East belo ...

''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Size

Max length: 8.6 cm

Environment and climate

''Garra geba'' only lives in freshwater and in a tropical climate.

Distribution

''Garra geba'' are known to be found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

specifically the

Geba River The Geba is a river of West Africa that rises in the northernmost area of Guinea in the Fouta Djallon highlands, passes through southern Senegal, and reaches the Atlantic Ocean in Guinea-Bissau. It is about in total length. In Senegal, the r ...

Description

''Garra geba'' has a total of 11 dorsal soft rays and 9 anal soft rays. Garra geba have distinct features in which it is distinguished from African congeners. Their depressed head and gracile body, between five and nine predorsal scales, asquamate chest, posterior chamber of gas bladder small all contribute to individual features. It is a very slender and elongated fish with two pairs of barbels. The first pair are called the maxillary barbels which are usually slightly longer than the other rostral pair. The Garra geba's dorsal-fin membrane is a pale cream color with a faint band of black between the rays. It also has around 4 or 5 black spots between the rays with its anal, pelvic, and pectoral fins usually being a pale creamy brown. The caudal fin on the Garra geba is a pale brown and its median rays are dark brown.

References

Garra Fish of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Fish described in 2007 Cyprinid fish of Africa {{Garra-stub