Arabian Seas: Biodiversity, Environmental Challenges and Conservation Measures

Laith A. Jawad obtained MSc in Fish Taxonomy from the Zoology Department, University of Bristol, UK, in 1980. He then worked as a fish taxonomist at Basrah University, Iraq, for more than 20 years before moving to New Zealand in 1997. During this time, he founded the biochemical taxonomy of fishes of Iraq and published over 400 scientific papers and book reviews in leading scientific journals. He is the author and co-author of several biology textbooks published in Arabic. Recently, he contributed five chapters to the book Coastal Fishes: Habitat, Behaviour and Conservation, published by Nova Publishers, Canada. He also authored the book Dangerous Fishes of the Eastern and Southern Arabian Peninsula, published by Springer in 2017. He served as a fish biodiversity expert and consultant at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Oman between 2008 and 2012, during which he co-authored two papers describing a new fish species in the Omani waters and reported over 80 fish species in Omani waters. He authored a guide to the fishes of the southern coasts of Oman published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Oman in 2018. He also published over 90 papers on the fish fauna of Oman, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. In 2013, he started research collaborations with over 100 scientists from more than 50 countries around the globe investigating various aspects of fish taxonomy and ichthyology.

• - Introduction. - Part I Historical Perspectives. - History and Geography of the Arabian Gulf. - The Prehistoric Fishers and Gatherers of the Northern and Western Coasts of the Arabian Sea. - Part II Environmental Aspects. - The Biogeochemical Features of Kuwaiti Water in the Northwestern Arabian Gulf: Current State of Knowledge and Future. - Some Physical Oceanographic Aspects of Kuwait and Arabian Gulf Marine Environment. - Low Oxygen Zones Predict Future Condition of Fish Under Climate Change. - Dust Storms and Its Benefits to the Marine Life of the Arabian Gulf. - Desert Dust as a Vector for Cyanobacterial Toxins. - Part III Geological Aspects. - The Geology of Iraqi Territorial Waters, Northwest of the ArabianGulf. - Deep Tectono-Geodynamic Aspects of Development of the Nubian-Arabian Region and Its Relationship with Subsurface Structure. - Freshwater Ostracodafrom the Wetland Mid-Holocene Sediments, Dhamar Highlands, Yemen. - Part IV Major Biotopes. - Microbial and Physical Sedimentary Structures in the Tidal Flats of Khor Al-Zubair, NW of Arabian Gulf. - Preliminary Account of the Ichthyoplankton of the Marine Waters of Iraq, Northwest Arabian Gulf. - Distribution and Abundance of Seagrasses in Qatar Marine Zone. - Marine Macroalgae in Qatar Marine Zone. - The Diversity of the Giant Clams and Their Associated Symbiodiniaceae Algae in the Red Sea. - The Dynasty of the Pharaoh: Phylogeography and Cryptic Biodiversity of Sepia pharaonis Cuttlefish in Northwest Indian Ocean Peripheral Seas. - Sharks and Rays of the Arabian Sea and Adjacent Waters. - Maturation, Spawning, and Feeding Habits of the Indian Mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1817) from the Sea of Oman off the Sohar Coast, Sultanate of Oman. - Reproduction and Feeding of the Indian Oil Sardine Sardinella longiceps Val. from Mahout along the Arabian Sea Coast of Oman. - Interdecadal Changes in Community of the Fish Fauna of the Marine Waters of Iraq. - Fishes of the Arabian Sea Coasts of Oman: Checklist and Biodiversity Analyses. - Gobiiform Fishes of the Arabian Sea. - Population Biology Including Population Structure, Spawning Cycle, and Maturity of Plectorhinchus schotaf (Forsskål, 1775) (Family: Haemulidae) Collected from the Arabian Sea Coast of Oman. - The Ichthyodiversity of the Red Sea: A Unique Extension of the Indian Ocean Biota. - Marine Mammals of the Arabian Seas. - Part V Biodiversity. - Is It the Time to Perform a Regular National Marine Biology Survey in the Seas Around the Arabia Peninsula to Assess the Marine Biodiversity?. - A Proposal for Creating a Directory of Marine Biota Gauges in Iraq. - Influence of Climate-Driven Low Oxygen Zones on Fish Biodiversity: A Case Study from the Arabian Sea. - Assessment of the Fish Biodiversity in the Vicinity of Sohar Industrial Area, Sultanate of Oman: A Proposal. - The Feasibility of Introducing Undergraduates in Biodiversity Science in the Arabian Gulf Area. - The Possibility of Applying Citizen Science in the Countries Bordering the Arabian Peninsula. - Part VI Natural Resources. - Stock, Maximum Sustainable Yield, and Management Status of Tenualosa ilisha in Bangladesh Waters. - Biological Characteristics, Population Dynamics and Fisheries Management of Pomadasys commersonnii (Lacepède, 1802) in the Arabian Sea Coast of Oman. - Law Enforcement, Compliance, and Fisheries Sustainability. - The Influence of Oxygen Minimum Zone and Oceanographic Parameters on the Length Distribution of Five Fish Species in the Arabian Sea. - Strategies for Monitoring and Management of Marine Fisheries Resources of the Sultanate of Oman. - The Fisheries of the Arabian Sea Large Marine Ecosystem. - Valuation of Fishing Tools and Social State of Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) Fishers of the Estuary of Shatt al-Arab River, Basrah, Iraq. - Monitoring the Marine Recreational Fisheries in the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman. - Marine Artisanal Fisheries of Iraq. - Fish Consumption Behavior in the Coastal City of Basrah on the Arabian Gulf, South of Iraq. - Part VII Fishing Boats. - Boats and Ships of the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman Within an Archaeological, Historical and Ethnographic Context. - Small Watercrafts on the Western Indian Ocean: Interaction of Human and the Sea in the Pre-oil Era. - Part VIII Coral Reefs. - Coral Reef Management in the Arabian Seas. - Underwater Fish Survey in the Marine Waters of Iraq: An Imported Training Program. - Part IX The Sea and Human Health. - Harmful Algal and Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms in the Arabian Seas: Current Status, Implications, and Future Directions. - Catfish-Related Injury and Infection: Report on Cases from the Marine Waters of Iraq. - Do Not Turn Your Back to a Dangerous Animal: A Case of a Fatal Selfie with Poisonous Ray in the South of Iraq. - Human Remains Recovered from a Shark Collected in the Marine Waters of Iraq: A Case Report. - Multiple Puffer Fish (Tetrodotoxin) Poisoning, with Fatal Incidences After Ingestion of Pufferfish in Sana’a, Republic of Yemen. - Marine Fish Attacks in the Arabian Sea Coasts of Republic of Yemen. - Part X Environmental Challenges. - Coastal Environmental Challenges in Kuwait. - Lipid Tracers in Coastal Sediments of the Northwestern Arabian/Persian Gulf: Characteristics, Sources, Distribution, and Possible Ecological Impacts. - Hydrocarbons Pollution in the North-West Arabian Gulf. - Characterization and Possible Cause of the Fish Anomalies So Far Reported in the Vicinity of Jubail City, Saudi Arabia, Arabian Gulf. - The Feasibility of Using Fish Bioindicators to Check Enhancements in Habitat Quality: Case Study of Two Teleosts Collected from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman Waters. - Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Seawater Desalination on the Hypersalinity of Arabian/Persian Gulf. - Secondary Microplastic Ingestion by Planktivorous Fishes in the Sea of Oman. - First Report of Plastic Fragments in the Lanternfishes Collected from the Sea of Oman. - Topically Acquired Bacterial Infections from Aquaculture: A Synopsis with Relevance to the Arabian Peninsula. - Part XI Biological Invasion. - Potential Pitfalls in the Definition of Lessepsian Migrants: The Case of Brachidontes. - A Proposal for a Plan ofAssessment of Danger of Alien Species to Marine Biota Variety in the Eastern and Southern Coasts of the Arabian Peninsula. - Part XII Islands. - Idmi and Other Mammalian Wildlife in the Farasan Islands Protected Area. - Part XIII Conservation. - It Is About Time to Use Magnetic Resonance in Fish Studies and Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessment in Iraq. - Marine Protected Areas in the Countries Bordering the Arabian Peninsula: Reserve the Existing and Establish Further.