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Merge 104.8 | 11 August 2020
A team of scientists and researchers from the National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation at the Royal Diwan Court, have announced the confirmation of a new species of freshwater fish in the valleys of the Jebel Samhan national reserve in Dhofar Governorate.
This fish species feeds on algae growing on rocks in freshwater pools and has been named ‘garrasindhi’. The announcement revealing the finding was published in the monthly issue of Al Washaq (Lynx Magazine) with details of the discovery dating back to research work which began in 2014 conducted by a team of Omani and international researchers.
As reported by Merge 104.8’s sister station Al Wisal, when researchers drew close to one of the freshwater ponds in Jebel Samhan, they noticed a large number of olive-green fish swimming in the rocky shallows, feeding on algae attached to the rocks.
Using its lower jaw to feed off the stones, the largest of the fish were between 80-85 mm in size, along with mid-sized fish of 40-45 mm. Smaller juveniles and fingerlings were observed to be greener in colour, and had golden-coloured spots which could be seen clearly in light, as well as a stripe on the back.
Also observed in the same area of the reserve were water birds that prey on the garrasindhi. The research team took ten random samples of the garrasindhi to test them and compare the specimens to other, similar types of fish on record in Oman’s Natural History Museum.
Source: Al Wisal
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