Garra andruzzii (Vinciguerra, 1924)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Garra andruzzii, a species of cyprinid fish, formerly the only species of the genus Phreatichthys, and is endemic to Somalia. This cave-adapted fish is whitish (not pigmented) and blind. It has no scales. It is considered to have evolved in the cave environment for some two million years. Its former generic name derives from the Greek words phreasatos for spring, and ichthys for fish. It grows to a maximum length of 6.2 cm (2.4 in).
This fish is the first animal discovered that does not adjust its biological clock with the light of the sun. It has an unusual internal clock, which measures the passage of time with an extremely long period (up to 47 hours). It is also completely blind to all light stimuli.
Two other cavefish species are found in Somalia: the cyprinid Barbopsis devecchi and the catfish Uegitglanis zammaranoi.
Wikipedia contributors, Garra andruzzii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:34:17.070576+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Garra andruzzii (Vinciguerra, 1924)
- Name authority
- (Vinciguerra, 1924)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Garra
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyLabeoninae Bleeker, 1859
- genusGarra Hamilton, 1822
- speciesGarra andruzzii (Vinciguerra, 1924)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Garra. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Garra abhoyai Hora, 1921 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra aethiopica (Pellegrin, 1927) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra allostoma Roberts, 1990 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra alticaputus Arunachalam, Nandagopal & Mayden, 2013 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra annandalei Hora, 1921 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra bispinosa Zhang, 2005 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra blanfordii (Boulenger, 1901) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra cambodgiensis (Tirant, 1883) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra ceylonensis Bleeker, 1863 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra chaudhurii Hora, 1921 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra compressus Kosygin & Vishwanath, 1998 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Garra congoensis Poll, 1959 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phreatichthys andruzzii Vinciguerra, 1924 Vinciguerra, 1924 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1805554 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:DT8G5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.