Acanthopagrus berda (Fabricius, 1775)

Çiçek, Erdoğan, Jawad, Laith, Eagderi, Soheil, Esmaeili, Hamid Reza, Mouludi-Saleh, Atta, Sungur, Sevil & Fricke, Ronald, 2023, Freshwater fishes of Iraq: a revised and updated annotated checklist- 2023, Zootaxa 5357 (1), pp. 1-49 : 34

Acanthopagrus berda (Fabricius, 1775) [N]—Picnic seabream

Taxonomy. Original description: Sparus berda Fabricius, 1775: 32 , xi [Al-Luhayya (Luhaiya), Yemen, Red Sea, approximately 15°41’52”N, 41°41’07”E; holotype: ZMUC P50555 (left dry skin, poor condition)].—Iraq synonyms: None.—Revisions: Iwatsuki (2013: 87).—Illustration: Randall (1995: 223, fig.) .

Status in Iraq. First record from Iraq by Hora & Misra (1943) confirmed by Khalaf (1961), Mahdi (1962), Al-Hassan & Hussain (1985), Al-Dubaikel (1986), Al-Hassan et al. (1989) —Iraq materials: Fish collection at the Marine Science Centre, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq.

Distribution and habitat. Distribution in Iraq: Tigris and Euphrates River drainages.—General distribution: Red Sea; Indian Ocean: Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal ( South Africa), East Africa, Persian Gulf, Socotra ( Yemen) and Madagascar east to Malaysia and Singapore.—Habitat: This species is an estuarine-dependent species that is found mainly on sandy and muddy grounds in shallow coastal waters to depths of 50 m and rarely enters freshwaters. Juveniles inhabit protected bays and estuaries. It feeds on invertebrates, including worms, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, and small fish. Freshwater, brackish, marine.

Economic importance. Commercially important.

Conservation. Conservation Status in Iraq: Unknown.—IUCN: LC (IUCN 2023).—Threats: FIT, HAB.—Low sensitivity to human activities.—Not considered a keystone species.—Decline status: Unknown.—Low priority for conservation action.