CHECKLISTS
This list of the Iraqi freshwater fish fauna will be updated as new information
becomes available.
1. FRESHWATER SPECIES
The following list includes those species that are permanent residents of fresh
water. Species marked by an asterisk (*) are exotics, introduced from another
country. Species marked by a circumflex (^) are additions to the fauna - they
are not given a full account in my book which went to press before these could
be added, or they are exotics not certainly established. The fauna is comprised of 44 native and
13 exotic freshwater species.
Cyprinidae
1. Acanthobrama marmid Heckel, 1843
2. Alburnoides bipunctatus (Bloch, 1782)
3. Alburnus caeruleus Heckel, 1843
4. Alburnus mossulensis Heckel, 1843
5. Aspius vorax Heckel, 1843
6. Barbus (Luciobarbus) barbulus (Heckel, 1849)
7. Barbus (Luciobarbus) esocinus Heckel, 1843
8. Barbus (Tor) grypus (Heckel, 1843)
9. Barbus (Luciobarbus) kersin Heckel, 1843
10. Barbus (Kosswigobarbus) kosswigi (Ladiges, 1960)
11. Barbus (Barbus) lacerta Heckel, 1843
12. Barbus (Carasobarbus) luteus (Heckel, 1843)
13. Barbus (Luciobarbus) pectoralis (Heckel, 1843)
14. Barbus (Mesopotamichthys) sharpeyi (Günther, 1874)
15. Barbus (Luciobarbus) subquincunciatus Günther, 1868
16. Barbus (Luciobarbus) xanthopterus Heckel, 1843
17. Barilius mesopotamicus Berg, 1932
18. Caecocypris basimi Banister and Bunni, 1980
19. Capoeta aculeata (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1844)
20. Capoeta barroisi (Lortet in Barrois, 1894)
21. Capoeta damascina (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1842)
22. Capoeta trutta (Heckel, 1843)
23. *Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
24. Chondrostoma regium (Heckel, 1843)
25. *Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1844)
26. Cyprinion kais Heckel, 1843
27. Cyprinion macrostomum Heckel, 1843
28. *Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758
29. Garra rufa (Heckel, 1843)
30. Garra variabilis (Heckel, 1843)
31. *Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855)
32. Hemigrammocapoeta elegans (Günther, 1868)
33. *Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1844)
34. *Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1844)
35. Squalius cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758)
36. Squalius lepidus Heckel, 1843
37. Typhlogarra widdowsoni Trewavas, 1955
Cobitidae
1. Cobitis taenia Linnaeus, 1758
Balitoridae
1. Barbatula argyrogramma (Hcekel, 1849)
2. Barbatula frenata (Heckel, 1843)
3. Paracobitis malapterura (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes,
1846)
Sisoridae
1. Glyptothorax kurdistanicus (Berg, 1931)
2. Glyptothorax steindachneri (Pietschmann, 1913)
Siluridae
1. Silurus triostegus Heckel, 1843
Heteropneustidae
1. *Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1794)
Pangasiidae
1.*^Pangasius sp. - personal communication, Thamie Katea Adday, 4 November 2009.
Bagridae
1. Mystus pelusius (Solander in Russell, 1794)
Mugilidae
1. Liza abu (Heckel, 1843)
Cyprinodontidae
1. Aphanius dispar (Rüppell, 1829)
2. Aphanius mento (Heckel, 1843)
3. ^Aphanius mesopotamicus Coad, 2009
Poeciliidae
1. *Gambusia holbrooki Girard, 1859
2. *Poecilia latipinna (Lesueur, 1821)
Mastacembelidae
1. Mastacembelus mastacembelus (Banks and Solander in Russell, 1794)
Cichlidae
1. *^Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864) - see Mutlak and
Al-Faisal (2009).
2. *^Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
3. *Tilapia zillii (Gervais, 1848)
2. MARINE SPECIES
The following list is of species that enter the Shatt al Arab River and as far
inland as the Hammar Marsh. Some used to travel up the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers to varying degrees but dams and water diversion schemes now prevent more
extensive movements. Some of the records below may be or are mis-identifications and
are marked with a question mark (?). A total of 25 species are listed here of
which 8 are given species accounts in the book and marked by a tilde (~). These
marine fishes can be identified with such works as Fischer, W. and Bianchi, G.
(Eds.). 1984. FAO Species Identifi cation Sheets for Fishery Purposes. Western
Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51). Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. 6
volumes; Murdy, E. O. 1989. A taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the
Oxudercine gobies (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae). Records of the Australian Museum,
Supplement 11:1-93; Thomson, J. M. 1997. The Mugilidae of the world. Memoirs of
the Queensland Museum, 41(3):457-562; Whitehead, P. J. P. 1985. FAO Species
Catalogue. Volume 7. Clupeid Fishes of the World (Suborder Clupeoidei). An
Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of the Herrings, Sardines, Pilchards,
Sprats, Shads, Anchovies and Wolf-herrings. Part 1 - Chirocentridae, Clupeidae
and Pristigasteridae. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Fisheries
Synopsis, 125, volume 7, part 1:x + 1-304; Whitehead, P. J. P., Nelson, G. J.
and Wongratana, T. 1988. FAO Species Catalogue. Volume 7. Clupeid Fishes of the
World (Suborder Clupeoidei). An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of the
Herrings, Sardines, Pilchards, Sprats, Shads, Anchovies and Wolf-herrings. Part
2 - Engraulididae. Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Fisheries Synopsis,
125, volume 7, part 2:viii + 305-579; and others listed in the Iraq Bibliography
at this website.
Carcharhinidae
1. ~Carcharhinus leucas (Valenciennes in Müller and Henle, 1839)
Engraulidae
1. ~Thryssa hamiltonii (Gray, 1835)
2. ?Thryssa mystax (Bloch and Schneider, 1801)
3. ~Thryssa whiteheadi Wongratana, 1983
Clupeidae
1. ~?Nematalosa nasus (Bloch, 1795)
2. ~Tenualosa ilisha (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822)
Ariidae
1. ?Arius thalassinus (Rüppell, 1837)
2. Netuma bilineatus (Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1840)
3. Plicofollis layardi (Günther, 1866)
Mugilidae
1. ~Liza klunzingeri (Day, 1888)
2. ?Liza oligolepis (Bleeker, 1859)
3. ~Liza subviridis (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1836)
Hemiramphidae
1. Hemiramphus marginatus (Forsskål, 1775)
2. Rhynchorhamphus georgii (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes,
1847)
Belonidae
1. Strongylura strongylurus (van Hasselt, 1823)
Platycephalidae
1. Platycephalus indicus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sillaginidae
1. Sillago sihama (Forsskål, 1775)
Sparidae
1. Acanthopagrus berda (Forsskål, 1775)
2. ~Acanthopagrus latus (Houttuyn, 1782)
3. Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1830)
Sciaenidae
1. Johnius belangerii (Cuvier 1830)
2. Otolithes ruber (Schneider in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)
Gobiidae
1. Bathygobius fuscus (Rüppell, 1830)
Scatophagidae
1. Scatophagus argus (Linnaeus, 1766)
Stromateidae
1. Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen, 1788)
2. Pampus chinensis (Euphrasen, 1788)
Soleidae
1. Brachirus orientalis (Schneider in Bloch and Schneider, 1801)
© Brian W. Coad (www.briancoad.com)