IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I. VO L.23 (3 ) 2010 The First Record o f Two Species of Dactylogyrus (Monogenetic Trematodes) in Iraq From Diyala River Fishes, Diyala Province K. N. Abdul-Ameer Departme nt of Biology, College of Education I bn Al-Haitham, Unive rsity of Baghdad Abstract Two sp ecies of monogenetic trematodes of the genus Dactylogyrus were recorded in the p resent p aper for the first time in Iraq from two freshwater fishes from Diy ala river, Diy ala p rovince. The first sp ecies, D. bocageii Alvarez Pellitero, Vicente et Gonz alez Lanza, 1981 was recorded from gills of Aspius vorax, the second sp ecies, D. lenkorani M ikailov, 1967 was recorded from gills of Barbus sharpeyi. The descriptions and measurements of these p arasites as well as their illustrations were given. Introduction The flukes which attack skin and gills of fishes and cause different signs and sy mptoms are unsegmented flat worms of the phy lum Platy helminthes belong to the class Trematoda, order M onogenea [1]. Skin flukes feed on the epithelial cells, and in doing so, they cause considerable damage to the skin of the fishes. Sy mptoms caused by gill flukes include increase breathing frequency, whilst the gill covering are st retched op en widely . The gills are exp ande and very p ale. Parts of the gills often become p rotuberant and look like a small p ale fleece outside the cover. Parts of the gill sheets on which flukes have sett led are covered with a cloudy film, consisting of slime and dest roy ed ep ithelial cells [2]. T here are many sp ecies of gill flukes to be found on fishes. M ost of the gill flukes belong to the family Dacty logy ridae. The most well known belongs t o the genus Dactylogyrus [1]. The Dactylogyrus fauna from freshwater fishes of Iraq is rich and rep resents the major group of the monogenetic trematodes. The first record in Iraq was D. cornu on five freshwater fish sp ecies from Diy ala river by Ali et al. [3]. M any survey s were done during the following y ears from different water bodies which brought additional new Dactylogyrus sp ecies [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The checklist of the parasites of fishes from Iraq includes 80 sp ecies of Dactylogyrus [10]. So, more survey s of fish p arasites are needed to recognize more sp ecies and increasing information of p arasitic fauna of freshwater fishes of Iraq. The p resent p aper deals with the record of two sp ecies of Dactylogyrus for the first time in Iraq. Materials and Methods During February and M arch 2010, a total of 23 fishes belonging to five sp ecies (Aspius vorax, Barbus luteus, B. sharpeyi, B. xanthopterus and Silurus triostegus) were collected from Diy ala river Diyala p rovince, at Ba'Quabah city (it is sitiuated between 33°-34° nort h latitude and 44°-45° east longitude). They were examined for ectop arasites. Skin, buccal cavity and gill smears were p repared and microscopically examined. Care was taken to isolate and flatten the p arasite sp ecimens, which were then st ained with aqueous neutral red. Permanent slides were then p repared with glycerin. M easurments of p arasites were done by using micrometer, and drawing was done by using a camera lucida. The p arasites were identified according to Gussev [11]. IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I. VO L.23 (3 ) 2010 Re sults and Discussion The p resent st udy showed the existence of two sp ecies of monogenetic trematodes belonging to the genus Dactylogyrus. The following is an account of their measurements (in mm). The measurements were based on six sp ecimens of each sp ecies. Dactylogyrus bocageii Alvarez Pellitero, Vicente et Gonz alez Lanza, 1981 (Fig. 1): Among the examined fishes, one sp ecimen (out of three) of A. vorax with total length 35cm and total weight 400 gm was infected with many sp ecimens of this p arasite. Worm had a moderate size, length 0.6-0.75 (0.67), width 0.1-0.12 (0.11). Length of marginal hooks (hooklets) 0.023-0.03 (0.026). Overall length of median hook 0.033-0.04 (0.036), sp ike 0.01- 0.02 (0.011), total length of median hooks 0.04-0.05 (0.045), length of external p rocess 0003- 0.005 (0.004), internal p rocess 0.012-0.017 (0.014). Connecting bar 0.025-0.03 (0.027)x0.003-0.006 (0.0045), sup p lementary bar 0.022-0.028 (0.025)x0.0025-0.005 (0.003). Total length of copulatory organ 0.04-0.045 (0.042). The p resent measurements of D. bocageii are similar to those reported by Gussev [11]. Dactylogyrus lenkorani M ikailov, 1967 (Fig. 2): The gills of one B. sharpeyi (out of four) was infected with this p arasite. The infected fish was male with a total length of 39 cm and a total weight of 750 gm. Worm of moderate size, length 0.05-0.06 (0.055), width 0.09-0.1 (0.095). Length of marginal hooks 0.018-0.025 (0.041). Overal length of median hook 0.038-0.05 (0.044), sp ike 0.01-0.012 (0.011), total length of median hooks 0.048-0.062 (0.055), length of external p rocess 0.005-0.007 (0.006), internal p rocess 0.015-0.017 (0.016). Connecting bar 0.027-0.032 (0.029)x0.006-0.01 (0.008), sup p lementary bar 0.021-0.025 (0.023)x0.003. Total length of copulatory organ 0.027-0.04 (0.033).The measurements of the p resent D. lenkorani are in an agreement with those reported by Gussev [11].The two above-named dacty logy rids can be easily differentiated according to the shap e of both connecting and sup p lementary bars as well as the st ructure of their copulatory organ. Also, D. bocageii has a cartilagenous filament in its median hook while no such filament is p resent in D. lenkorani (Figs. 1 and 2). It is app rop riate to mention here that Gussev [11] has considered D. araxicus M ikailov, 1977 as a sy nony m of D. lenkorani. According to M haisen [10], the two p arasites of the present study (D. bocageii and D. lenkorani) represent their first record in Iraq as no p revious record was given for these p arasites on fishes from Iraq. Acknowledgments Thanks are due to Prof. Dr. Furhan T. M haisen, Dep artment Biology , College of Education (Ibn Al-Haithem), University of Baghdad for his help in parasite identification, permission to use his index-catalogue of p arasites and disease agents of fishes of Iraq and critical reading of the manuscrip t. Thanks to Prof. Dr. M ohammad K. M ohammed, M rs. Azhar A. Al-M ossawi and M iss Hanaa H. Al-Saffar, of the Iraq Natural Hist ory Research Center and M useum, University of Baghdad for their permission to use the camera lucida. Re ferences 1.Duijn, Van Jnr. C. (1973). Diseases of fishes, 3 rd ed., Iliffe Books, London: 372pp . 2.Amlacher, E. (1970). Textbook of fish diseases (Engl.Transl.). T. F. H. Publ., Jersey city : 302p p . 3. Ali, N.M .; Al-Jafery, A.R. and Abdul-Ameer, K.N. (1986). New records of three monogenetic trematodes on some freshwater fishes from Diy ala river, Iraq. J. Biol. Sci. Res., 17(2): 253-266. 4. Abdullah, S.M .A. (2005). Parasitic fauna of some freshwater fishes from Darbandikhan lake, north of Iraq. J. Dohuk Univ., 8(1): 29-53. 5. Abdullah, S.M .A. and M haisen, F.T . (2004). Parasitic infection with monogenetic trematodes on fishes of Lesser Zab and Greater Zab rivers in northern Iraq. Zanco J. Salahaddin Univ., 16(4): 43-52. IHJPAS IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I. VO L.23 (3 ) 2010 6. Al-Nasiri, F.S.; M haisen, F.T . and Al-Nasiri, S.K. (2002). First occurrence of the monogenetic trematode Dactylogyrus capoetae Jalali, Pap p et M olnar, 1995 in Iraq on gills of the cy p rinid fish Barbus luteus. J. Diyala, 13: 421-425. 7. Gussev, A.V.; Ali, N.M .; Abdul-Ameer, K.N.; Amin, S.M . and M olnār, K. (1993). New and known sp ecies of Dactylogyrus Diesing, 1850 (M onogenea, Dacty logy ridae) from cyp rinid fishes of the river Tigris, Iraq. Sy st . Parasitol., 25: 229-237. 8. Salih, N.E.; Ali, N.M . and Abdul-Ameer, K.N. (1988). Helminthic fauna of three sp ecies of carp raised in ponds in Iraq. J. Biol. Sci. Res., 19(2): 369-386. 9. Balasem, A.N.; M haisen, F.T .; Asmar, K.R.; Al-Jawda, J.M . and Adday , T.K. (2009). Record of two sp ecies of the monogenetic trematodes genus Dactylogyrus for the first time in Iraq on gills of the cyp rinid fish Alburnus caeruleus. Bull. Iraq Nat. Hist . M us., 10(4): 11-16. 10. M haisen, F.T . (2010). Index-catalogue of p arasites and disease agents of fishes of Iraq. (Unp ublished data: mhaisenft@y ahoo.co.uk). 11. Gussev, A.V. (1985). Parasitic metazoans: Class M onogenea. In: Bauer, O.N. (Ed.) Key to the p arasites of freshwater fish fauna of the U.S.S.R. Nauka, Leningrad, 2: 1-424 (In Russian). Fig.(1): Dactylo gyrus bocageii (Scale bar = 0.02mm .) Fi g.(2): Dactylogyru s len korani (S cale bar = 0.02mm .)Mh: Me dian h ook, cb: connectin g bar, S b: Supplemen tary bar, Co:Copul atory organ , HI:Hookle t, Es:Eye spots , T:tes tes , O :O very, U:Ute rus. IHJPAS 2010) 3( 23مجلة ابن الهیثم للعلوم الصرفة والتطبیقیة المجلد التسجیل األول لنوعین من المخّرمات أحادیة المنشأ من الجنس Dactylogyrus محافظة دیالى، نھر دیالى أسماك في العراق من كفاح ناصر عبد األمیر جامعة بغداد، إبن الھیثم-كلیة التربیة ، قسم علوم الحیاة خالصة ال ن أسـمـ Dactylogyrusأ م�ن الجنـ�ـس ــ�ـة المنشــ�ـم�ات أحادیث ن�وعین م�ن المخرّ ـ�ـسجل في ھذا البح ـ�ـر ــــ� ـــ�ـاك نـھ م ى ف ــ� ـــافظـ��دیاـل ىــي مـح ـ�ـ� ــاـل ـ�ـوع األول ھـ، ـ��ـة دـی و ـالـن D. bocageii Alvarez Pellitero, Vicente etــ�ـ� Gonz alez Lanza, 1981 ـلك من ـــ� م أســ�ـماك الش و ، Aspius voraxغالصـــ� ــ� اني ـھ وع الثـــ� ــ� D. lenkoraniوالـن M ikailov, 1967 ي م�ن رس�م إل�ىباإلض�افة وقیاس�اتوص�ف ت�م إعط�اء Barbus sharpeyi.غالصــ�ـم أسمـ�ـاك البنــ� .ھذین النوعین من الطفیلیات توضیحي لكل من IHJPAS