The fish community and food habits of fish species in Hawr Ad Dalmaj marsh

This study was conducted from January to December 2017 in Hawr Ad Dalmaj marsh, which is located 40 km southwest of Kut city, Waist Governorate southeast Iraq. The fish samples were collected, and water temperature and salinity were measured monthly. Water temperature ranged from 37.54 °C during August to 9.15 °C in January; salinity ranged from 2.68 g/l in February to 10.91 g/l in August. Fifteen species of fish were collected, belonging to 7 families and all of them were freshwater fish. Resident species, seasonal species, and occasional species formed 60% (9 species), 6.67% (1 species) and 33.37% (5 species) of the total ichthyofauna, respectively. The dominant species were Planiliza abu, Carassius auratus and Coptodon zillii with a relative abundance 35.99%, 27.75% and 15.86% respectively. The highest monthly similarity was found in March (91.67%) and lowest in May (69.23%). Food items varied among fish species and Silurus triostegus and Leuciscus vorax resulted highly specialized, while Planiliza abu, Coptodon zillii, Oreochromis aureus, Cyprinus carpio and Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi showed less specialization. Carassius auratus and Carasobarbus luteus were non-specialized species based on their food components.