Mesopotamian Journal of Marine Science

This study includes the preparation of new Schiff-base derived from (3-amino phenol) and (2-hydroxy benzaldehyde and (2-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzaldehyde), the characterization of this bases is carried out by FT-IR and 1H-NMR The prepared bases were loaded on Urethane foam to prepare chelating polymers which were characterized by FT-IR, TGA and DSC technique. The loading efficiency of these resins were investigated toward several ions Cu+2, Cd+2, Ni+2 and pb+2 in different time and pH by Batch method. The prepared chelating polymers showed a good efficiency towards the studied ions and it was maximum for (Cu+2) ions, An application to prepared chelating polymers was carried out on a sample of wastewater of Hamdan´s station in Basrah South of Iraq, and the results showed high and accurate level efficiency to remove the heavy elements.

The reproductive cycle of the Macrobrachium nipponense (De Haan, 1849) was studied in Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq during Dec. 2015 to Nov. 2016.The averages of total length, carapace length and weight for males were 65.7 mm, 28.8 mm and 2.9 g respectively, and for ovigerous females were 60.1 mm, 26.0 mm and 3.3 g respectively. Length-weight relationship of M. nipponense was W= 0.407 L e 0.031 (r = 0.67) for the females and W= 0.177 L e 0.043 (r = 0.90) for the males. The highest percentage of ovigerous females was 98.88 % attained in August. The maximum gonado somatic index was recorded in March (10.66) and the minimum was 5.72 recorded in July 2016. The condition factor for the males was ranging from 1.30 to 2.90 in November and August, respectively, while for the females it was between 1.11 and 2.10 at the same periods. Total number of eggs per female was from 799 to 2047 egg/ind. Minimum sex ratio (males: females) was 1:0.17 recorded in February, and the maximum 1:9.00 was recorded in June.

In this study, 52 samples were collected from natural water taken from selected areas from (Rivers, groundwater wells) in Basrah Governorate-Southern Iraq for the period from February - April 2020, to determine the concentrations of the radon gas (222Rn) emitted from the selected and newborn samples of the radioactive element Radium 226Ra located in the series of uranium 238U and calculate the annual effective dose. Solid state Nuclear Track Detectors SSNTDs have been used, a long-term passive measurement method for the emission of (α particles) with the CR-39 detectors, LR-115typeII and a method for measuring the activity with a fast electronic device called RAD7. The results of the study showed that the lowest concentration of radon gas in samples of River water was 196 ±12 Bq.m-3 was in the sample No. W13 water of Garma River, and that the largest concentration was 16217 ±97 Bq.m-3 sample No. W9 from Al Khoura River. As for the radon gas concentration in groundwater wells, its highest concentration reached 22415 ±143 Bq.m-3 in sample No. W36 from Aldawajin well-2, and the lowest concentration was 682 ±46 Bq.m-3 in sample No. W24 in a well at Al-Barjisiah and the general average of radon gas concentration in all the study samples was 7320 Bq.m-3, the annual effective dose of water was estimated and it was found that the highest value was 1.136 mSv.y-1 in sample No. W36 and this value falls outside the internationally approved limit By the World Health Organization WHO, 0.1 mSv.y-1 In general. It was found that radon concentrations in water samples of Rivers and groundwater wells selected from Basrah Governorate-Southern Iraq falls within the limits of the permissible value of 11000 Bq.m-3 for surface water and 20000Bq.m-3 for groundwater wells, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency EPA, with the exception of some samples of Rivers and underground wells, which have recorded values higher than that value, and they may pose a risk on the health of farmers in those areas.

The current experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Research Station-Aquaculture Unit, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah from 27th June to 10th Nov 2020 in Al-Hartha District about 16 km northern-east of Basrah Governorate (30o65`64.6"N, 47o 74`79.5"E). Six earthen ponds (600 m3) were used to investigate the effect of three different initial weights of grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella [220.1-276.8 g (T1); 146.5-169.3 g (T2); 81.5-82.7 g (T3)]. Fishes were fed 3% daily using commercial pellets manufactured by Agricultural Consultant Office. The results of the current study indicated that T1 had better growth criteria (WI= 296.8 g, DGR= 2.53 g/day, SGR= 0.59%/day and FCR 5.23) compared with the other two treatments. There was a negative allometric pattern of growth (b less than 3) in the three treatments before and after the experiment. Statistical analysis of the results proved that there were significant differences (P≤0.05) in the modified condition factor (Kb) between the three treatments at the end of the experiment, while there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the relative condition factor (Kn) and Fulton’s condition factor (K). It was concluded from the current experiment that the initial average weight of the grass carp must not be less than 250 g to achieved good results for fish culturist

The present study aims to produce protein concentrate from Ray fish Himantura randalli. Fish samples were brought from the Iraqi seawater (Fao region), two methods of hydrolysis were used, the first with distilled water and the second with alkali solution (NaOH 0.1N) to recover protein concentrates from fish samples. The yield of protein concentrates recovered by distilled water and alkali solution were 7.2% and 10.1%, respectively, the protein content in the produced concentrates were 82.33% and 84.25% and the fat contents were 6.05% and 7.12% in the mentioned methods, respectively. The study has also tested the functional properties of the produced concentrates, (Solubility, water absorption and fat bending), the measurements of these properties were 60.8%, 67.1%; 3, 2.5 ml/gm and 3.5, 3 ml/gm for the two produced concentrates, respectively. The two concentrates have brown color with light fishy smell and showed good storage ability after 60 days under 28 °C and 7 °C without changes in color or smell, it also showed low total bacterial counts which were 429, 386 CFU/gm and 368, 357 CFU/gm for the two concentrates, respectively.

Ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) with structure NiFe2O4 were created following the sol-gel auto-combustion method using lemon juice as surfactant and fuel agent. This method is located within the green chemistry, a method of environmentally friendly and less expensive than other methods. Nanomaterial’s have been diagnosed using different physical and chemical techniques: Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrosc0py (EDX), F0urier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission Electr0n Microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the phase purity and the particle size 24.27nm. The effects of adsorbent concentration, pH, temperature, and time of contact on Lead and Cadmium ions uptake behavior were measured. The optimum time of contact to attain equilibrium is 60min for Lead (II) ion and 90 min for Cadmium (II) ion, and pH values are in the range (3-9). The results of adsorption showed a strong correlation with Freundlich model compared with the Langmuir model. The thermodynamic parameters were given, revealing endothermic reaction for ΔH, ΔG was found a spontaneous process and ΔS had positive value, increase of disorder of the process.

Two penaeid shrimp species were found in the main fish markets of Basrah Province, Penaeus semisulcatus and Metapenaeus affinis. The quantities of the two species were recorded, the highest landings of P. semisulcatus in Al-Ashar market was 396 +26 kg during September, and the lowest during December (159 +16 kg). In Basrah market, the highest landings was observed in July (410 +32 kg), and the lowest was 200 +22 kg in January. As for M. affinis, the highest landings was 397 +55 kg in July at Al-Ashar market, and the lowest rate in December, which reached 205 +19 kg. In Al-Basrah market, the highest rate of landings was 597 +68 kg in July, and the lowest rate (298 +48 kg) in November. The highest average monthly weight of P. semisulcatus was 80 +7 g during January and the lowest average was 40 +6 g in April. For M. affinis the highest average weight was 25 +5 g. in December and the lowest (12 +6 g.) in May. The highest annual landings of P. semisulcatus in Al-Ashar market was 15.5 tones and in Al-Basrah market was 18 tones. While the highest annual rate of landings of M. affinis in Al-Ashar market was 12.7 tones and in Al-Basrah market 25.8 tones.

Shatt Al-Arab River is an important inlands river in Iraq, It is considered an important source of fresh and water for the city of Basrah, as it is used for drinking and orchards irrigation also used for industrial and commercial purposes. Sampling was carried out monthly from November 2019 to December 2020 from Shatt Al-Arab River. The present study made records nine of algae species for the first time in Iraq. Represented by six species of Chlorophyta (Eremosphaera tanganyikae, Microspora wittrockii, Monoraphidium komarkova, Mychonastes pusshpae, Scenedesmus similagineus and Spongiococcum tetrasporum), one species of Cyanophyta (Pseudanabaena catenata), one species of Dinophyta (Impagidinium paradoxum), and one species of Euglenophyta (Strombomonas verrucosa).