41 Thalassia Salentina Thalassia Sal. 44 (2022), 41-50 ISSN 0563-3745, e-ISSN 1591-0725 DOI 10.1285/i15910725v44p41 http: siba-ese.unisalento.it - © 2022 Università del Salento LAITH A. JAWAD 1 , OMAR F. AL-SHEIKHLY 2 , KAMIL H. AL-FAYADHI 3 1 School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, 139 Carrington Road, Mt Albert, Auckland 1025, New Zealand 2 College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq 3 Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Babylon, Iraq THE OSCAR, ASTRONOTUS OCELLATUS (AGASSIZ, 1831) (CICHLIDAE): A DELIBERATE AQUARIUM TRADE INTRODUCTION IN THE EUPHRATES RIVER, IRAQ SUMMARY The first record of a single specimen of oscar, Astronotus ocellatus, native to Amazon basin of Peru, Colombia and Brazil, is reported from the inland waters of Iraq. The specimen was caught from one of the branches of the Eu- phrates River to the east of the Barnun city, ca. 5 km to the NW of Hilla city in Babylon Province in central Iraq in December 2021 using rod and line. The capture of a sub-adult specimen, 186.7 mm in total length, indicates the first record of another aquarium fish species in the freshwater system of Iraq. The aquarium trade pathway is the suspected factor for the presence of this species in the Iraqi freshwater area. Key words: biodiversity, new locality, new occurrence, aquarium trade, non- Indigenous Species INTRODUCTION Biological invasions are one of the most disturbing harms in the natural envi- ronment that instigate destructions such as habitat degradation, hybridization, the spread of disease, and economic problems (PIMENTEL, 2002; GOZLAN, 2009; CUCHEROUSSET and OLDEN, 2011). Despite the worry about invasions, fishes con- tinue fleeing from captivity into a new habitats, particularly through vectors of aquaculture, the ornamental-fish trade, and sport fishing (GOZLAN, 2008). For such reasons, fishes are some of the most often introduced aquatic animals in the world (GOZLAN, 2008, 2009). In spite of the difficulties that the fish can face during invasion, they usually adapt physiologically so they can survive in the new habitats. (RAHEL and OLDEN, 2008; GOZLAN, 2009; CAPPS and FLECKER, 2013).