Doctor Fish

As traditionally defined, G. rufa is native to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Iran. 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. 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. Finally the complex includes four cavefish: G. lorestanensis, G. tashanensis, G. typhlops and G. widdowsoni.

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 Fairfax County, 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. 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". The procedure is legal in Quebec, with a few clinics in Montreal. 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. Garra rufa fish seen in the spa and aquarium trade mostly originate from commercial facilities in Israel and to a lesser degree Turkey. It is legally protected from capture from the wild in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting. Despite its ability to survive in polluted waters,