Geographical distribution of freshwater fishes in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Species presence/absence data in different water bodies in different regions of Saudi Arabia were collated from the literature and collected from field surveys to determine the geographical distribution of fish species in the country. Freshwater fish are mainly located in drainages in the south-west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both in the lowlands (western drainage systems) and highlands (eastern drainage systems) of the Sarawat Mountain Range. The eastern drainage systems were dominated by three endemic species, while the western drainage systems had a variety of endemic and non-native species. Ten non-native fish species were reported, mainly in artificial water bodies in the north and east of the country, but also in dams located in Al Baha Region, Abha and Rabigh, meaning both western and eastern drainage systems are being colonised by non-native species such as Oreochromis and Carassius species.