Document Type : Articles
Authors
1 Marine Science Center, University of Basrah
2 Marine Science Center, University of Basrah, Iraq
3 Marine Science Center, University nof Basrah, Iraq
Abstract
Due to the lack of studies that were conducted on fish populations and the impacts of the tide on fish diversity, composition, and abundance in the East Hammar Marsh, to evaluate the status of the marsh from January to December 2020. Some ecological variables were measured and represented by water temperature, salinity concentrations, and hydrogen ions. A total of 4217 individual fish were caught from the study area, epitomizing 18 families belonging to 29 genera and 37 fish species, all affiliated with Osteichthyes. Cyprinidae and Engraulidae represented the most abundant families, shared in four species each. Four species preside over the East Hammar marsh, forming 62.58% of the total number of species in the investigated area: Planiliza abu, Carassius gibelio, Thrayssa whiteheadi, and Poecilia latipinna recorded 20.44%, 17.76%, 14.28%, and 10.10%, respectively. The fish fauna diversity included the native species, where 14 species formed 28.05% of the total caught. Nine exotic species comprise 48.19% of the overall fish. The marine species were 14 species, counting 23.76% of the total catch. The present study concluded that the marsh was subjected to deterioration in the environment due to increased salinity, which led to a change in fish assemblage composition to exotic, ornamental fish and marine species, with a decline in the number of individuals of native fish species.
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