Specimens of four species of Bivalvia not previously recorded from Iraq were discovered. These are Didimacar tenebrica, Aspidopholas obtecta, Neotrapezium sublaevigatum, and Barbatia trapezina which belong to the Noetiidae, Pholadidae, Trapezidae and Arcidae families, respectively. All specimens were collected alive from the intertidal zone of the northwest Persian-Arabian Gulf, Iraq, in the Fao region. Although these species are widespread in the Persian-Arabian Gulf, our study is the first to report them along the Iraqi coast. A provisional checklist of marine bivalves of Iraq is presented listing 32 species of which 21 have been verified from specimens or photographs. This list is compared with data from adjacent coasts of Kuwait and Iran.

Six marine bivalves species were recorded from the north west of the Arabian Gulf, Iraqi coast from 2020 to 2021. The species are Acar plicata (Dillwyn, 1817) (family Arcidae), Sunetta effossa (Hanley, 1843) (family Veneridae), Scissileda tropica (Melvill, 1897) (family Yoldiidae), Protapes cor (Sowerby, 1853) (family Veneridae), Circentia callipyga (Born, 1778) (family Veneridae) and Acrosterigma lacunosa (Reeve, 1845) (family Cardiidae). These records raise the number of marine bivalves known from the Iraqi coast to 38 species.

The present study is part of an ongoing project on the mollusc diversity of Iraq. Specimens of the gastropod Pupa affinis were collected live from the intertidal zone of the northwest of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, in the Fao region. The species was identified to species level using standard taxonomic literature. It is widely distributed in the Persian Gulf; however, this study provides the first record from the Iraqi coast. Also, a checklist of the marine gastropods from the Iraqi coast is provided and now comprises 32 species belonging to 30 genera within 24 families.

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Global warming is considered to be a major threat to biodiversity and to have an erosive effect on the survival of endangered species. Amphibians are known as a vulnerable group of vertebrates that live and reproduce in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. The subtropical regions of the world are among the land areas where amphibians will suffer the most from climate change. In the present study, the effect of climate change on Bufo eichwaldi inhabiting Hyrcanian forests was investigated. According to our results, the lowest temperature in the coldest season is the most important variable for the presence of this species. Due to the beginning of reproductive activity and mating taking place in late January until the end of February, this variable will have a direct effect on the rate of breeding and thus on the conservation of this species, because the species can find a new suitable area outside of high humanisation and increase its chance of successful breeding. Of course, climate change will cause the average annual temperature to rise by 2070, and this will favour the early onset of reproduction. Therefore, according to the analysis and scenarios considered in this study, global warming cannot have a negative effect on the toad species. However, a careful assessment of the status of other competing species in conjunction with the Talysh toad could provide a better explanation of the impact of climate change.

An investigation to clarify some obscurity about Melanopsidae was performed on specimens collected from different sites of the South of Iraq. Three different morphs were recognized, two are widespread: Melanopsis costata and Melanopsis nodosa, the other Melanopsis subtingitana has a narrow distributions. Key words: Melanopsidae; Melanopsis costata; Melanopsis nodosa; Melanopsis subtingitana; South of Iraq

Eight marine gastropod records were recorded from the north west of the Arabian Gulf, Iraqi coast during March 2020. Th e species are Turritella cochlea Reeve, 1849 (family Turritellidae), Rhinoclavis fasciata (Bruguière, 1792) (family Cerithiidae), Semiricinula tissoti (Petit de la Saussaye, 1852) (family Muricidae), Ancilla castanea (G. B. Sowerby I, 1830) (family Ancillariidae), Bulla ampulla Linnaeus, 1758 (family Bullidae), Oliva bulbosa (Röding, 1798) (family Olividae), Naria turdus (Lamarck, 1810) and Erronea caurica quinquefasciata (Röding, 1798) (family Cypraeidae). Th ese records raise the number of marine gastropods from the Iraqi coast to 40 species.

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