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The Freshwater Molluscs of the Mesopotamian Plain

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Tigris and Euphrates Rivers: Their Environment from Headwaters to Mouth

Part of the book series: Aquatic Ecology Series ((AQEC,volume 11))

Abstract

The present paper revises diversity, endemism and threats for freshwater molluscs that inhabit the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A systematic account of the extant freshwater mollusc fauna of Iraq includes 35 mollusc species, twenty species of Gastropoda, and five species of Bivalvia. The recent malacofauna in the Mesopotamian plain is the mix of the species that evolved from the saline tolerant freshwater taxa in the lakes that existed in former times and the geologically recent immigrants that either reached Mesopotamian plain from the Palaearctic or from the east.

The gastropods of the family Melanopsidae dominate in the gastropod assemblage, while the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea is the most common mussel in Tigris and Euphrates basins. The Mesopotamian plain harbours a few endemic species of freshwater molluscs.

Freshwater molluscs are affected by multiple threats: water abstraction, natural system modification by constructing large dams, draining of the lower basin marshes and impact of invasive species being found as most impacting. About 29% of Iraqi mollusc fauna is non-native, indicating that malacofauna of the Mesopotamian is among the most threatened in the world by invasive species.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Eike Neubert (Bern) for the photo of Bithynia ejecta and to M. K. Mohammad (Baghdad) and M. D. Naser (Basra) for providing samples from Iraq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro

    Vladimir Pešić

  2. Biodiversity Research Lab, Hetlingen, Germany

    Peter Glöer

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  1. Vladimir Pešić
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  2. Peter Glöer
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  1. School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Laith A. Jawad

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Pešić, V., Glöer, P. (2021). The Freshwater Molluscs of the Mesopotamian Plain. In: Jawad, L.A. (eds) Tigris and Euphrates Rivers: Their Environment from Headwaters to Mouth. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57570-0_33

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