stylistic:style_transfer
Ecology

The Jordan River basin has a unique ichthyofauna as it serves as the meeting point for several different biogeographic regions, including the northern Palearctic, the Afrotropics, East & South Asia, and the Mediterranean. Native fish include cyprinids such as the Jordan bream (Achanthobrama lissneri), Jordan himri (Carasobarbus canis), Jordan barbel (Luciobarbus longiceps), Levantine scraper (Capoeta damascina; the most common native fish in the basin), red garra (Garra rufa), & Damascus garra (Garra nana), hillstream loaches such as the Palestine loach (Oxynoemacheilus insignis), catfish such as the African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus), cichlids such as the blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii), & mango tilapia (Sarotherodon galilaeus), and blennies such as the freshwater blenny (Salariopsis fluviatilis). The Jordan bream and Jordan barbel are thought to be endemic to the Jordan River basin. The Jordan basin may have also served as the center of diversification for several now-widespread Palearctic fish groups.

A native freshwater reptile is the Balkan terrapin (Mauremys rivulata), which is thought to have also been a food source for the earliest Neanderthal residents of the region.

Several introduced species of fish are known from the region, including common carp (Cyprinus carpio), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), black carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), and sea mullet (Mugil cephalus). Many of these introduced fish either prey on or outcompete native fish and threaten their populations, especially the more endangered species.