Zooplankton in Iraqi Marine and Brackish Water : Diversity and abundance of zooplankton and its infection with protozoan parasites in Iraqi marine and brackish water

In the present study, the density and abundance of zooplankton and it`s infections with ecto and endo parasites in Iraqi marine and estuarine brackish water of NW Arabian Gulf were studied. Sixty taxa of zooplankton were identified in the present study,35 taxa were copepods, while 25 taxa were belonging to other zooplankton. Eight taxa of Copepoda were recorded for the first time in the study area. Many type of protozoan parasites heavily infects copeopods and other zooplankton in the study area as follow: Ellobiopsis chattoni, Ellobiopsis sp., Thalassomyces sp., Blastodinium sp., Zoothaminium sp., Dinoflagellates, peritrich ciliates. These parasites recorded for the first time in Iraqi marine and brackish water as well as the Arabian Gulf except for Ellobiopsis chattoni, and Thalassomyces sp., which recorded in Kuwaiti waters before.