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Research Article

The Danube Sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833 (Actinopterygii, Acipenseridae) in the Euphrates River, Iraq

Laith A. Jawad ¹ , Omar F. Al-Sheikhly ², Ahmed M.H. AL-Dirawi³

¹School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, 139 Carrington Road, Mt Albert, Auckland 1025, New Zealand

² College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

³Basrah Directorate of Environment, Basrah, Iraq

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 20(2), 2021, 33‒38
2. DOI: 10.21005/asp.2021.20.2.04

Abstract. Acipenser gueldenstaedtii is recorded for the first time from the Euphrates River, west of Iraq. The species has not previously been mentioned as introduced to the Tigris-Euphrates River basin. There are two possibilities for this occurrence, first, the natural dispersal from adjacent Turkey and second, the aquaculture introduction. Both possibilities were discussed. Confirmation for the origin of the sporadic appearance of individuals of this species will wait for the appearance of more specimens in the inland waters of Iraq.

Keywords: aquaculture, metric characters, meristic characters, introduction, range extension