NEW RECORD OF TWO EURYHALIOTREMA KRITSKY & BOEGER, 2002 SPECIES (MONOGENOIDEA, DACTYLOGYRIDAE) FROM LUTJANID FISHES FROM MARINE COAST OFF IRAQ
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2025.18.3.0765Keywords:
Arabian Gulf, Ectoparasite, Fish, Gills, Iraq, Snappers.Abstract
The snappers (Lutjanid fish) are an important food source for the Iraqi people. Three
species of lutjanid fishes- the Blackspot snapper Lutjanus ehrenbergii (Peters, 1869), Dory
snapper L. fulviflamma (Forsskål, 1775) and L. indicus Allen, White & Erdmann, 2013 were
caught from Iraqi marine waters in the Arabian Gulf during 2024. The Blackspot snapper L.
ehrenbergii and the Dory snapper L. fulviflamma were found to be infested with both
Euryhaliotrema adelpha Kritsky & Justine in Kritsky, 2012 (reported here as a new host) and
E. spirotubiforum (Zhang, 2001) Wu, Zhu, Xie & Li, 2006. L. indicus was infested only with
E. spirotubiforum which is reported here for the first time from this host species and this
geographical area (the Arabian Gulf). Illustrations of whole- mount specimens are given for
E. adelpha for the first time. This investigation represents the first report of monogenoids
from lutjanid fishes in Iraq.