Book Fauna Palaestina 4 Year 2014 By Prof Dr Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf von Jaffa ISBN 978-9950-383-77-7

Freshwater Fishes in Palestine
أسماك المٌاه العذبة فً‏ فلسطٌن
By: Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher
Khalaf-von Jaffa
The Origin of Palestinian Freshwater Fishes
The Ichthyofauna of Palestine‘s inland waters includes 32 indigenous
fish species belonging to eight families and another 14-16 species
introduced by man.
Palestine is a meeting point between Africa and Asia and is close to
southeastern Europe. As a result, its inland water bodies are populated
by fish of diverse origins: Africa, Asia Minor (Anatolia, Iraq, greater
Syria), the Arabian Peninsula (and possibly the African Horn) and
from the sea (probably relicts from the Tethys Sea period).
The inland water system in our area has changed greatly during the
faunal history of the Middle East. Rivers altered their flow direction
and water links between various systems were formed and once again
severed. Fish species of different origins expanded their distribution
areas or were driven out by new invaders. These events shaped the
fish fauna in our country (Goren, 1975).
Fish have penetrated Palestine via diverse routes. African species
arrived in several waves – most via the Pelusiac (or Pelusian) branch of
the Nile River and some possibly via the Mediterranean (Cichlidae).
Fish from the Tigris-Euphrates river system reached Mediterranean
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