Lebanon

The Mediterranean toothcarp, Aphanius fasciatus, occurs around much of the Mediterranean coast, from France and the Adriatic to Syria and Egypt. It mostly inhabits shallow lagoons, salt marshes and first order streams, and tolerates anything from freshwater to hypersaline conditions. Populations differ in colour and pattern but relatively little genetically, the exception being the isolated population in Lake Bafa, Turkey.

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.