Garra rufa, the red garra (although it is also called doctor fish, nibble fish, kangal fish, and bonefish (in New England)) is a small species of cyprinid fish that is native to rivers, streams, ponds and lakes in Anatolia and the Middle East.
Since the early 21st century, Garra rufa have been integrated into a spa treatment where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. While the doctor fish treatment has been found to alleviate the symptoms of psoriasis, the treatment is not curative, and no cure for psoriasis currently exists. The use of the fish as a spa treatment for the wider public is still widely debated on grounds of efficacy and validity.
Occurrence
Garra rufa occurs in the river basins of the Anatolia in Turkey and Northern and Central Middle East, mainly in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Oman. It is legally protected from commercial exploitation in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting for export. Garra rufa can be kept in an aquarium at home; while not strictly a "beginner's fish". For treatment of skin diseases, aquarium specimens are not well suited as the skin-feeding behavior fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply can be scarce and unpredictable.
When doctor fishes forage the slough off dead skin, they look for food which in the wild consists of aufwuchs. In both marine and freshwater environments the algae â€" particularly green algae and diatoms â€" make up the dominant component of aufwuchs communities. Small crustaceans, rotifers, and protozoans are also commonly found in fresh water and the sea, but insect larvae, oligochaetes and tardigrades are peculiar to freshwater aufwuchs faunas.
Spa resorts
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 Alexandria, 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.
See also
- Cleaner fish
- Vong v. Sansom
References
