Arabia is a land of vast expanses of desert and arid mountain ranges. Amongst these inhospitable mountains, narrow freshwater 'wadis' provide a vital source of life for terrestrial animals and support highly-adapted aquatic communities.

Freshwaters have suffered the most severe damage of all ecosystems over the past 100 years. It is estimated that more than 20 percent of the world's 10,000 recorded freshwater fish species have become extinct, threatened, or endangered in recent decades. More species and habitats have been lost from freshwater ecosystems than any other environment on land or sea.

The very presence of fish species in wadi pool ecosystems adds to the biodiversity of a very demanding environment, increasing species richness and the aesthetic value of these oases of life in an otherwise arid region.

It is vital that we learn more about these fascinating freshwater fish. Virtually nothing is known about their ecology; what they are eating, when and how they are reproducing and the essential behavioural and physiological adaptations that enable them to survive in such a dry, desert region.