Iraq

The dwarf snakehead, Channa gachua, is a snakehead recorded across an enormous range from Iran to Taiwan and Bali. There is significant evidence that C. gachua as currently understood is a complex of similar-looking species in need of taxonomic review. A mouthbrooder bred regularly in captivity, it can share a well-chosen community with peaceful fishes too large to be prey, but populations should not be mixed as some may hybridise.

The doctor fish (Garra rufa) is a cyprinid from the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, from Turkey and Israel to the Tigris-Euphrates in Iran. Fish sold as G. rufa are marketed worldwide for their questionable ability to remove dead skin, but the species likely represents a complex of closely-related taxa and it is unclear which the traded fish are. Strictly not a tropical species, it is kept at 14-20 °C.

The iridescent toothcarp, Paraphanius mento, occurs in eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries from Turkey and Israel to Iraq and Iran. Most aquarium fish come from Turkey's Mediterranean coast and the Ceyhan and Seyhan basins. One of the more ancient Aphanius, it has found greater popularity in the hobby than its relatives. Males are the most aggressive in the genus and will often fight to the death.

The grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, is a large cyprinid native to the Amur River system in eastern Russia and northeastern China. Adults typically reach 800 to 1200 mm, making it a wholly unsuitable aquarium subject, though an albino form is traded. Widely introduced for aquaculture and weed control, it has caused serious damage to natural waters, and unwanted fish should never be released.