Myxosporeans (Phylum Myxozoa) Parasitic on Some Fishes from Hamrin Lake in Diyala Province, Iraq

Abstract

Between January and December 2019, a total of 368 fish specimens were collected from Hamrin lake in Diyala province, Iraq. These fishes belonged to 16 species: Acanthobrama marmid, Alburnus caeruleus, A. sellal, Arabibarbus grypus, Carasobarbus luteus, Carassius auratus, Chondrostoma regium, Cyprinion kais, C. macrostomum, Cyprinus carpio, Garra rufa, Leuciscus vorax, Luciobarbus xanthopterus, Mastacembelus mastacembelus, Mystus pelusius and Planiliza abu. The result of inspection showed that these fishes were infected with 25 species of parasites belonging to the class Myxosporea. These included one species each of Chloromyxum and Unicauda, two species each of Myxidium and Thelohanellus and 19 species of Myxobolus. Among these parasites, Myxobolus pfeifferi infected the highest number of hosts (ten host species), followed by M. drjagini and M. oviformis (nine host species each), while five parasite species infected one host species each. Among these fishes, C. luteus was infected with the highest number of parasite species (18 species), followed by C. carpio (13 species). Myxobolus. hemibarbi was recorded in the present study for the first time in Iraq. The description and measurements of this parasite is presented. In addition, a total of 35 new host records in Iraq were reported for 18 species of these parasites.