Red garra

Red garra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Cypriniformes
Family:Cyprinidae
Subfamily:Labeoninae
Genus:Garra
Species: G. rufa
Binomial name
Garra rufa
(Heckel, 1843)
Subspecies

G. rufa turcica[2]
G. rufa obtusa[2]
G. rufa rufa[2]

Synonyms

Garra rufa, the red garra (although it is also called doctor fish, and nibble fish) is a small species of cyprinid fish that is native to rivers, streams, ponds and lakes in Anatolia and the West Asian regions.[4]

Since the early 21st century, Garra rufa have been integrated into a spa treatment where they feed on the stratum corneum skin layer of patients with psoriasis. While the doctor fish treatment has been found to alleviate the symptoms of psoriasis,[5] the treatment is not curative, and no cure for psoriasis currently exists. The use of the fish as a spa treatment for the wider public is still widely debated on grounds of efficacy and validity.

Occurrence

Garra rufa fish as pets

Garra rufa occurs in the river basins of the Anatolia in Turkey and Northern and Central Middle East, mainly in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Oman. It is legally protected from commercial exploitation in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting for export. Garra rufa can be kept in an aquarium at home; while not strictly a "beginner's fish". 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.

When doctor fish forage the sloughed dead skin, they seek food, which in the wild consists of periphyton. In both marine and freshwater environments algae – particularly green algae and diatoms – make up the dominant component of aufwuchs communities. Small crustaceans, rotifers, and protozoans are also commonly found in fresh water and the sea, but insect larvae, oligochaetes and tardigrades are peculiar to freshwater aufwuchs faunas.

Spa resorts

Doctor fish cleaning a bather's feet
Some spas provide large fish ponds with thousands of doctor fish in them

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. In 2008, two widely known doctor fish pedicure services were opened in the United States in Alexandria, Virginia, 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.[3][2][6][7] In 2011 the UK Health Protection Agency issued a report assigning a "very low" risk of transferring infection from the procedure.[8]

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".[7] The procedure is legal in Quebec, with a few clinics in Montreal.[9] The animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment 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 take this abnormal food.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Freyhof, J. (2014). "Garra rufa". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: 2014: e.T19086922A19223063. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T19086922A19223063.en.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Search Results for: Garra rufa". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Zicha, Ondřej (2009). "BioLib - Garra rufa". BioLib. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  4. ↑ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2016). "Garra rufus" in FishBase. August 2016 version.
  5. ↑ "A medical study conducted by Martin Grassberger and Werner Hoch of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, reported that exfoliation by doctor fish, Garra rufa, native to the hot springs at Kanghal, Turkey, when used in combination with ultraviolet (UV) light can clear the appearance of psoriasis. The treatment kept symptoms at bay for about eight months." Source: New Scientist. 7/14/2007, Vol. 195 Issue 2612, p52-52. 1p.
  6. ↑ Slack, Martin (10 March 2010). "Step right in – the Doctor Fish will see you now". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  7. 1 2 Ban on Feet-Nibbling Fish Leaves Nail Salons on the Hook
  8. ↑ "Fish pedicure risk 'very low'". NHS England. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Galipeau, Silvia (8 July 2010). "Piscipédicurie: inusitée, controversée et non réglementée". La Presse. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "What No One Told You about Those Disgusting Fish Pedicures". PETA. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
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