NEW RECORD OF TWO EURYHALIOTREMA KRITSKY & BOEGER, 2002 SPECIES (MONOGENOIDEA, DACTYLOGYRIDAE) FROM LUTJANID FISHES FROM MARINE COAST OFF IRAQ

The snappers (Lutjanid fish) are an important food source for the Iraqi people. Three species of lutjanid fishes- the Blackspot snapper Lutjanus ehrenbergii (Peters, 1869), Dory snapper L. fulviflamma (Forsskål, 1775) and L. indicus Allen, White & Erdmann, 2013 were caught from Iraqi marine waters in the Arabian Gulf during 2024. The Blackspot snapper L. ehrenbergii and the Dory snapper L. fulviflamma were found to be infested with both Euryhaliotrema adelpha Kritsky & Justine in Kritsky, 2012 (reported here as a new host) and E. spirotubiforum (Zhang, 2001) Wu, Zhu, Xie & Li, 2006. L. indicus was infested only with E. spirotubiforum which is reported here for the first time from this host species and this geographical area (the Arabian Gulf). Illustrations of whole- mount specimens are given for E. adelpha for the first time. This investigation represents the first report of monogenoids from lutjanid fishes in Iraq.