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 .
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.
The species Bostrichus capucinus (L.) (Coleoptera:Bostrichidae) was reported as a new record for Iraq. Diagnostic characters and some information are given .
The red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790), which belongs to the family Curculionidae, order Coleoptera, is one of the most important palm pests, which leads to heavy losses in date palms. In the last few years, it has been recorded in Iraq, from Safwan city south of Iraq, where it was detected on date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L, Arecales: Arecaceae). In the current study, specimens of adult weevils were collected from infested date palms (Phoenix dactylifera), that showed signs of infection in Safwan district, south of Basra province. The results of the investigation showed the presence of phoretic mites associated with the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier,
... Show MoreParasitological investigation of piscivorous birds in Al-Hammar marsh south of Iraq during December-February 2004 and December 2005 were revealed that water birds infected with five nematode species, which belong to three different superfamilies, Desmidocercella numidica (Seurat, 1920) (Superfamily: Aproctoidea) from three piscivorous birds including Grey heron Ardea cinerea, Bittern Botaurusstellaris, and small white heron Ardeola ralloides; Avioserpens sp. 1 and Avioserpens sp. 2 (Superfamily: Dracunculoidea) from small bittern Ixobrychus minutus and black glossy ibis Plegadisfalcinellus respectively; Baruscapillaria sp. and Baruscapillarinae gen. sp. (Sup
... Show MoreAmoebas live freely in different climates and parts of the world. Several species of Free Living Amoeba (FLA) are capable of causing serious as well as fatal infections in human beings. The aim of this study was to identify and compare genotypes of water-polluting FLA in major rivers and lakes of Iraq and compare them with FLA isolates from Iran and Turkey. For this purpose, the study included 20 water samples from the Tigris River, Euphrates River , Najaf Sea and Dukan lake in Iraq, 20 water samples from Marivan, Velasht, and Soleimanshah lakes and Caspian sea in Iran, and 20 water samples from Sabanca, Seyfi , Hazar and Yay lakes in Turkey. The samples were studied by culture methods, invert microscope, and molecular methods.
... Show MoreThe current study presents the cellar spiders genus Nita Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 (Araneae, Pholcidae) as the first record for Iraq spider fauna, this genus represented by the species Nita elsaff Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 were identified based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data. A short morphological description is also presented for cellar spiders listed in Iraq; including this species in addition to Artema Atlanta Walckenaer, 1837.