Parasitological examination of gills of three species of sparid fishes in the territorial waters of Iraq was performed, two diplectanid monogenoids were isolated and described; Lamellodiscus indicus Tripathi, 1959 from both Haffara seabream Rhabdosargus haffara (Forsskål, 1775) and Goldline seabream R. sarba (Forsskål, 1775) and Protolamellodiscus senilobatus Kritsky, Jiménez-Ruiz and Sey, 2000 from King soldierbream Argyrops spinifer (Forsskål, 1775). The record of the parasites is considered new to the parasite fauna of Iraq. The redescription of L. indicus for the first time which is collected from a new distribution area (Arabian Gulf). R. haffara is considered a new host record .
One male specimen of the species Metapenaeus stebbingi Nobili, 1904 was first recorded in November 2021 from the Iraqi territorial waters, Northwest of the Arabian Gulf. Therefore, the investigated shrimp species nominally corresponds to the original description of M. stebbing through the main diagnostic features. It must be adopted in the spread and expansion of species, a new record of the area, and a distinctive addition to the species of commercial shrimp within the Iraqi marine waters.
Three monogeneans: Dactylogyrus folkmanovae from gills of Chondrostoma regium, D. reinii from gills of Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi and D. robustus from gills of Leuciscus vorax were collected from Diyala River in Diyala Province. The description, measurements and illustrations of these parasites were given.
The family Chalcididae (Order: Hymenoptera) is known as one of the large chalcidoid wasps with some distinct morphological characters. The first occurrence of two parasitoid species belonging to this family was reported in the Al-Husayniya district Karbala Province, Iraq; which are: Brachymeria podagrica (Fabricius, 1787) and Chalcis myrifex (Sulzer, 1776). Both species were collected by using the sweeping net from orchards during July 2020.
The occurrence of two species of the genus Myxobolus Bütschli, 1882 (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) for the first time in Iraq from freshwater fishes.
Thirty three specimens of the blue-cheeked bee-eater were collected at central and southern Iraq from April 1997 to October 2000. Two nematodes Hadjelia truncata and Syphaciella capensis, were recovered from the alimentary tract. Reporting these two nematodes represents the first record for Iraq as well as a new host record.
A total of 589 fishes, belonging to 23 species were collected from eight different localities
in north and mid Iraq during 1993. The parasitological inspection of such fishes revealed the
presence of 59 parasite species and two fungi. Among such parasites, five monogenetic
trematodes were recorded on the gills of some fishes for the first time in Iraq. These
included:- Ancyrocephalus vanbenedenii on Liza abu from Tigris river at Al-Zaafaraniya,
south of Baghdad; Dactylogyrus anchoratus on Cyprinus carpio from Tigris river at Al –
Zaafaranya D. minutus on C. carpio from both Tigris river at Al-Zaafaraniya and Euphrates
river at Al-Qadisiya dam lake; Discocotyle sagittata on L. abu from both the drainage system
at
For the first time in Iraq, the crustacean Ergasilus ogawai Kabata,
1992 was recorded from the gills of Silurus triostegus, Mastacembelus mastacembelus, Mystus pelusius and Acanthopagrus latus out of 12 fish species caught from Garmat Ali river north of Basrah city during the period from September 1999 till August 2000. The percentage incidence of infestations of these four fish species were 98.9%, 100%,
49.6% and 71.4% while the intensity of infestations were 417, 81.8,
3.4 and 2, respectively. No significant differences in infestations of
male and female hosts with this crustacean were detected.
A total of 1453 freshwater fishes, belonging to 14 species of the
family Cyprinidae was collected from Lesser Zab and Greater Zab
rivers in north of Iraq during the period from November 2000 to the
end of November 2001. The inspection of skin, gills and different
internal organs revealed the infection of these fishes with a total of 14
species of Myxobolus which included seven species that represented
their first record in Iraq. These species included M. bulbocordis from
both Barbus sharpeyi and Chondrostoma regium; M. karuni from B
grypus; M. mesopotamiae from B. luteus; M. molnári from B
esocinus; M. pcrsicus from both B. grypus and Cyprinion macrostomum;
M. Shaagani from both B. b
The Old World Screwworm Fly Chrysomya bezziana is a new insect pest on cattles and other domestic recor¬ded for the first from Iraq. It was first observed in cow's vagina in September of 1996 in Shaikh Hammed (Tarmiya), near Baghdad city. Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve is well known as one of the most important insect pests of livestock. Its larvae infest living tissues by causing myiasis. In a wide range of worm-blooded host species (Spradbery and Vanningham, 1980; Spradbery and Kirk. 1992). It is widely dist¬ributed species over an extensive area of tropical and subtropical Africa, the Arabian Gulf countries, Iran. Indian subcontinent. South-East Asia. Indonesia, and as far east as Papua New Guinea (Zurapt, 1965; Djalayer et al. 1978;
... Show MoreThe species of Opilio kakunini Snegovaya, Cokendolpher & Mozaffarian, 2018 was recorded for the first time in Iraq; as well as to four species belonging to this order which were recorded previously. In this paper, we added a new species to the checklist of Iraqi opilionid fauna with a description of the most important characteristics, along with genitalia, for both males and females are presented with digital photographs. Specimens of males and females were collected from Al- Rifai district northern of Dhi-Qar Province, southern of Iraq.