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In monthly samples of Liza abu collected, June 2001-May 2002 from three localities (Hilla river, Al-Furat fish farm and Al-Mahaweel drain), Babylon province in the middle of Iraq. Fishes were infected with the third larval stage of the nematode Contracaecum sp. The infection of Contracaecum sp. larvae were analyzed according to the season, sex, host length, and sampling localities. Its prevalence and intensity was 11.9% and 1.1 larvae per fish respectively for the Winter, and the Summer had 47.6% and 3.5 larvae per fish respectively. The incidences were increased greatly during the Summer season, being higher in the females than the males for both the seasons of the year. There were slightly significant differences (p < 0.01) between the infection of male and female fishes in the cases of the monthly variations of infection with Contracaecum sp. Infection with Contracaecum sp. larvae were positively correlated according to fish length, increased gradually in the larger fishes. Infection rates and mean intensity also varied with sampling stations (p < 0.05). Generally, the changes in the percentage prevalence coincided with the changes in the mean intensity of infection.

A total of 680 fish specimens belonging to 31 species from the Yemeni coastal waters of the Red Sea were inspected for the poorly studied isopod infestations. Three isopod species of the suborder Cymothoida, family Cymothoidae were detected. These are Nerocila orbignyi (Guérin-Méneville, 1832) from both Moolgarda seheli and Liza aurata, Cymothoa exigua Schioedte and Meinert, 1884 from both Lutjanus gibbus and Chelon macrolepis and Ceratothoa capri (Trilles, 1964) from C. macrolepis. All these isopod species are reported here for the first time from the Yemeni coastal waters of the Red Sea

Helminth parasites of the marine fish (Lethrinus lentjan) is investigated. Out of 79 fishes dissected, 21 (26.6%) were found infected with larval trypanorhynch cestodes, 15 (19%) Nybelinia bisulcata larvae and 6 (7.6%) with larvae of unidentified species of the genus Pseudogrillotia. Since there is no previous report on these trypanorhynch cestodes from any fish host in Yemen, the present recording may well be considered the first in this country.

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