TEHRAN, Dec. 27 – Two rare species of fish formerly abundant in Iran’s Gamasyab River, flowing from the northern part of the Zagros Mountains, west of Iran, are on the verge of extinction now.

Rapid development and industrialization in particular, pollution, overfishing, dam building, aquaculture, breeding and introduction of non-indigenous species of fish has lead to disappearance of two major species of fish unique to Gamasyab River, Shirbot and Soleymani fish, the Persian service of IRNA said on Wednesday.

Like other large rivers running through Zagros Mountain range in South and Southwest Iran, Gamasyab River is the habitat of many endangered species of large tropical and semi-tropical region fresh water fishes. They include Barbus tetrazona and Barbus oligolepis, two different species within the genus Barbus some of which weigh up to 150 kilograms. The fish were formerly seen in abundance in the river.

As the longest river system in the nation, Gamasyab River is the origin of river Seymareh. It flows from the mountains around Hamedan region, joins another river and is called Seymareh in Lorestan. Its name is then changed into Karkheh in Khuzestan before emptying into the Persian Gulf.