What Are Garra Rufas?
Garra Rufas are a type of bottom-feeding freshwater fish found in certain locations within the the Middle East first found in Turkey.
What causes the Garra Rufa to nibble?
The high mineral content and warmth of the water inhabited by the fish creates a shortage of food. This inadvertedly made the Garra Rufas evolve to develop their instinct of nibbling dead skin cells from people in the water.
The Legend of the Garra Rufa fish
Legend has it that two Turkish brothers chanced upon a hot spring one day in the early 19th century. As soon as they dipped their feet into the pool, a school of small fishes immediately took to their feet, nibbling incessantly and giving them a gentle tingling massage. This made them return to their new-found hobby everyday. One brother who was suffering from a type of skin disease noticed that the symptoms of the disease began to disappear after some time with their fishy friends. What actually happened was that the Garra Rufa fish were nibbling up all the affected dead skin cells of the boy, eradicating them, and curing him of the disease.
When news of this broke, people from near and far came to sample the unique discovery. Most of the people who had skin problems were cleared of their disease after multipe visits. Ever since then, the Kangal town of Turkey has been the unofficial birth place of hot spring fish spas. This became a small cottage industry for the people of Kangal. There are even “fish spa” tours for people from all over the world to sample the magical cures of the Garra rufa fish till today.
