Mesopotamian Journal of Marine Science

The experiment was carried out at Basrah University's Agricultural Research Station- Aquaculture Unit- Agriculture College in six earthen ponds (600 m3). The study including of alien organisms effect on growth of common carp Cyprinus carpio. Using an agricultural shadow as a filtering fabric was put in inlets pipes (T1), while T2 without filters. Fishes was daily feeding by a commercial sinking pellets produced by Agriculture College's Agricultural Consultant Office, With a ratio of 3% from fishes weight. Fish weight and total length were measured at the start and finish of the experiment. Fish subsamples were weighed on a regular basis, and daily feed was modified following each weighing. At the end of the experiment the alien organism in all ponds were collected, classified and weighed individually except shrimp. The current experiment's results showed that there were notable differences (P≤0.0.5) in final weigh, increment, daily growth rate and feed conversion rate between fishes reared in ponds with and without filter. These differences may be related to differences in numbers and weighs of alien organisms in these ponds (97 individuals of six fish species in ponds without filter comparing with two individuals of one fish species in ponds with filter, and also 16314 g of shrimp in ponds without filter comparing with 440 g in ponds with filter). From the results of the current experiment, it can be concluded that culturist must use filters in inlet pipes of their ponds to prevent or reduced the entering of alien organisms to these ponds.

This study was conducted on the Al-Ezz River in the Al-Qurna district, north of Basra city, seasonally from Autumn 2022 to summer 2023 at five stations along the river. The purpose of the study was to assess the river's pollution and determine the highest concentrations of certain heavy elements in its water; Cobalt (Co), Cadmium (Cd), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), Lead (Pb) and Copper (Cu). The highest concentrations of these elements were (0.095, 0.238, 0.323, 1.461, 1.592, 2.801, 8.015, 695.423) mg/l, respectively, while the lowest concentrations of heavy elements were (Co= Not Detected, Fe= Not Detected, Mn= Not Detected, Cd= 0.010, Zn= 0.033, Pb= 0.062, Cr= 0.129) mg/l. The strongest correlation is between lead and iron (r=0.99). Cadmium shows a positive correlation (r=0.97) with chromium, while copper has a positive correlation (r=0.97) with cobalt. There is a strong positive correlation between iron (r=0.99) and manganese, as well as between manganese (r=0.99) and iron. Zinc also exhibits a positive correlation (r=0.99) with cobalt, and chromium (r=0.98) shows a positive correlation with cadmium and cobalt (r=0.99) with zinc.

One specimens measured 270 mm TL is collected from the deeper waters area inside the marine waters of Iraq in 2021. This record is considered the new northern most record of the lutjanid species Pinjalo pinjalo, where Kuwaiti waters record was the old northernmost extension. Possibilities for the presence of this species further north in the Indian Ocean have provided.

This study aimed to evaluate the reproductive performance of Eriphia verrucosa in Syrian waters for the first time. This study was conducted during the period between March 2021 and February 2022 in the coast of Jableh city, Syria. The total number of individuals collected was 110 individuals scattered between 50 females and 60 males, with a percentage of 45.4-54.5%, respectively. The results showed that spawning occurred during the period between March and July and a highest rate was during May. Fertility of Eriphia verrucosa ranged between 19512-116430 eggs\female, the width of the Carapace ranged between 3.5-6.4 cm, while the length of the Carapace ranged between 2.5-4.7 cm and the body weight ranged between 25.4-121.3 g.

Mudskippers are good biological guide to marine pollution because they are endemic to the coastal areas of water that considered to be the original environment of life. Therefore, the area of Iraq's mudflats are affected by pollutants that reaching a narrow zone of Iraq and neighboring countries which regarded as oil activities area that directly affecting fishes due to increasing the likelihood of hydrocarbon accumulation. Besides, there are large ports of loading platforms nearby as well as this area regarded as a fishing ground. In the current study, hydrocarbons were analyzed using the mudskipper samples that were divided into three groups according on their length, which ranged from 11-16 cm, 17.5-19.5 cm and 20-23 cm, respectively, and the fishes were divided into three groups of weight; 7.13-17.33 g, 18.6-25.33 g and 26.7-36.6 g. Pollutant accumulation is a very reliable sign of environmental contamination. the ratio of Anthracene/(Anthracene+Phenanthrene) measured more than 0.1 (0.52, 0.62, 1.57) is in agreement with the combustion origin, Fluoranthene/(Fluoranthene+Pyrene) measured more than 0.35 which is in agreement with the prospect of petroleum input, and finally, the ratio of BaA/(BaA+Chry) measured about 0.16 in the third group which is attributable to cool combustion.