فصلنامه محیط زیست جانوری
سال سیزدهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1400)

The recognition of the threats of the carnivores plays an important role in the protection of these species. Currently, one of the main threats to the leopard population in the north of Iran is leopard conflict with livestock and retaliatory killing by locals. Identifying conflict patterns will play an important role in Conservation planning of carnivores. In this study, local and nomadic rancher was used for this purposes in order to collect information using questionnaire method. Data collection during 2018 to 2019 considering the seasonal and spatial indicators moreover presence or absence of shepherds and herding dogs in the time of leopard’s conflict was investigated. In order to analysis and classification of the data and the range of leopard conflict, cause of conflict was asked to distinguish of leopard’s share in the comparison of wolves and bears. the data and extent of the leopards conflict with wolves and bears the Couse of the conflict was asked to distinguish the leopard`s share of the other two carnivores. According to the output, in the study area, the most conflict is caused by leopard. Seasonal variation has a very significant relationship with the location of conflict. Additionally, based on the results, vegetation type changes and elevation have direct effects on the level and time of leopard conflict with the livestock.

The Persian leopard is the largest feline in Iran and lives in most parts of the country, except for desert areas. Awareness of the habitat needs of this species is one of the requirements of wildlife management. The aim of this study was to study the overlap between the habitat of Iranian leopard with its preys (including wild goat and chinkara (Indian gazelle)) in order to prepare the habitat suitability map of these species in the protected area of Sang-e Mes using the maximum entropy method (in Maxent software). The data used to prioritize the habitats include the species presence points based on field observations as well as the environmental variables affecting the species distribution (9 variables for each species). The results showed the AUC (Area under the ROC Curve) of 0.824 for Persian leopard, 0.787 for wild goat, and 0.740 for Indian gazelle. According to Jackknife analysis, the variables of elevation, rainfall, distance from river, distance from road, and temperature for the Persian leopard, and distance from food sources and slope for the wild goat, and distance from river and temperature for the Indian gazelle provided the most information to the model. According to the calculations, 45.19% of the suitable habitats of Persian leopard have overlaps with the habitat of the wild goat. The least overlap was reported with the species of Indian gazelle (8.51%).

Wildcat (Felis lybica/Felis silvestris) is one of the Felid species with worldwide distribution that is threatened by specific and potential threatening factor  in addition to other human caused threats, i.e. crossbreeding with domestic cat and this issue has led to identification of  wildcat in the field  moreover conservation of the species to be encountered with some challenges. In current study considering necessity to identify subspecies of wildcat in Iran also morphological investigations, We examined sequence variation of 814 bp of mitochondrial DNA NADH5 gene from 38 possible wildcat samples collected across Iran .Phylogenetic analyses represented wildcat in Iran divides into two subcldes that in combination of worldwide sequences of wildcat, Iranian sequences placed between Asiatic wildcat and African wildcat/domestic cat. Using extant pictures of wildcat in this study together with related protocols, feasibility of using morphological features to discriminating wild samples from domestic ones was examined, however considering of poor quality of photos without related details, No definite results were obtained in this regard. To discriminating wildcat from domestic cat using morphological characteristics it is needed to have high quality pictures which cover various aspects of morphological features based on related protocols. Therefore providing a protocol that helps us to identify wild samples from domestics or hybrids in the field is necessary. To conservation of wildcat we have to increase our knowledge about ecological requirements of the species, the situation and the rate of hybridization also effective environmental items on this process.

Awareness of climate change impacts on suitable habitats of wildlife species is a prerequisite for long-term management of wildlife populations. In this research, we applied maxent approach to investigate the consequences of climate change on climatic habitat suitability for sand cat (Felis margarita) for present, the best, and the worst greenhouse gas emission scenarios for 2050 and 2070, throughout the country.  Modeling results indicated that nearly 18 percent of area of the country is currently suitable for the sand cat. However, only 15 percent of suitable habitats are conserved inside the protected area network. Sand cat avoids areas with high annual precipitation and prefers areas with high mean annual temperature. Under influence of climate change in lowest emission scenario in 2070, the area of suitable habitats and conserved habitats increases. In other scenarios, there are negligible decrease of suitable habitats. Therefore, it could be concluded that sand cat is the winner of climate change.

Unfortunately, due to the small population size and isolation of red deer (Cervus elaphus) in protected area-Arasbaran-Aynalu, there are inbreeding and the highly rate of bottleneck. Sex controlling for sex maintain effective population size as appropriate, may reduce inbreeding. For this purpose the objective of this study was access and optimization techniques for Sex determination in Red deer(Ceruvus elaphus); suitable method for estimating the effective population size for genetic conservation programs in Arasbaran and the country habitats. For this purpose, bleeding in deer, taken from jugular vein and tail vein after anesthesia, blood samples in tubes containing EDTA vaccum with ice -40c to the gen bank of Department of East Azerbaijan was transferred. Duplex PCR using primers based on the chromosome (Y) in accordance with the sex-determining gene DEAD-box Y-linked protein (DBY) simultaneously used with BMC1009 locus were amplified as an internal control per each reaction. The results are reliable, there are two bands 280-310 (polymorphic band) and 180 base pairs (bp) in male deer and 280-310 (polymorphic band) base pairs (bp) in female deer showed. To confirm this, residual PCR products was applied for sequencing. Genotyping results showed that 8 females and 15 males were identified as indicators of effective population size 4, respectively.

The aim of the present study was to identify the SNPs located in the genes that are associated with lipid and glucose metabolism in the genome of Dromedary, domestic and wild Bactrian camels. For this purpose, firstly, important genes that related to lipid (15 genes) and glucose (17 genes) metabolism in mammalian were identified using DDD analysis and also reviewing of the authentic papers. In order to evaluate the accuracy of selected genes, gene ontology analysis was performed on them and significant lipid- and glucose-related terms were observed. In the next step, common SNPs among three Dromedaries (993,474), four domestic Bactrian (1,246,741) and two wild Bactrian camels (2,586,654) were extracted, identification and classification were done for SNPs of studied genes in the whole genome of three camel species. The results showed that the most of the identified SNPs are located in the intron, upstream and downstream of the genes that considered as regulatory variants. Some genes showed different pattern of SNPs among three specises, so that, several genes had SNPs in some species and no variant in other species. Identified genes, especially those that showed different variant pattern in camels, may be considered as options for studying of evolution presses of these animals.

In the past, pedigree relationships were used to control and monitor inbreeding because genomic relationships among selection candidates were not available until recently. These consequences were measured by genetic gain, pedigree- and genome-based rates of inbreeding, and local inbreeding across the genome. Their effect on the accuracy of genomic predictions was also investigated using simulation data. A baseline population of 1000 animals for 4000 generations was simulated using QMsim software. The number of ten chromosomes and 1000 SNP markers on each chromosome was simulated and the total number of QTLs on ten chromosomes was 1000. The results of the present study showed that the rate of genetic improvement in the genomic breeding value (GBLUP) method was estimated to be 13 percent higher than the TBLUP method. The rate of pedigree inbreeding method in GBLUP method was much lower than TBLUP method, although in the method of inbreeding estimated by IBD this rate was very small. The difference in the accuracy of genomic prediction for the method in which inbreeding was estimated to be low marker was 24 units higher than the pedigree method. In general, the results of the present study showed that the estimate of inbreeding was less accurate and its effect on the accuracy of genomic prediction was significant.

Infertility is one of the main causes of economic losses and also affects the reproductive performance in dairy farms. The aim of this study was to consider the factors affecting infertility in dairy cows. The information, including nutritional status, parities, parturition, calving season, retention of placenta and metritis, was collected from the case of the referred cows to the Veterinary Hospital  of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Data analysis was performed using logistic regression and chi-square tests. The chance of a normal parturition for cows used a proper diet was 5.020 times more than of poorly fed cows (p<0.05).The effect of dystocia and placental retention on metritis was also significant (p<0.05). The chance ratio for metritis in cow with dystocia at parturition time compared to cows with normal parturition was 31.419. Also, this ratio for cows with retained placenta compared to normal cows was 1.377. Prevention the predisposing factors such as poor nutrition, dystocia, retention of placenta and metritis complex, even in native cows, can play a significant role in reducing infertility in dairy cows.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age at first calving with milk production and its composition in Holstein dairy herds. Recorded data from nine Holstein flocks including 38702 head from 2002 to 2020, which were collected by the Iranian Animal Breeding Center, were used for analysis. The relationship between age at first calving with milk production milk composition was determined by regression analysis and the correlation between these traits were investigated. Age at first calving had a significant effect on all studied traits including milk production, milk fat and protein yield. The correlation between milk production, milk fat and protein yield with age at first calving was -0.61390, -0.0190906 and -0.07018, respectively. The results show that the age at first calving less than 21 months has a negative effect on milk production, mild fat and protein content and with increasing age at first calving from 21 to 23 months increases milk production and fat and protein yield and from 25 months to 38 fat and protein yield decreased irregularly trend. According to the results, the optimal age at first calving is 22 months (21 to 23 months) and it seems that reducing it to 22 months in herds can be an effective management method in reducing costs and increasing milk production.

Digestibility of feeds can be measured using in vivo (direct method) and in vitro methods. The aim of this study was to measured chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of dried pomegranate seed pulp and pomegranate by-products silage by gas production technique. This research was conducted in the Department of Animal Sciences, Shiraz University. The experimental diets include dried pomegranate seed pulp (DPS), pomegranate seed pulp silage (fresh pomegranate seed pulp with 2% urea; FPS), pomegranate pulp silage (mixture of same amount of peel and seed pulp with 2% urea and 3% wheat straw; PPS+U), and the same silage mixture without urea (PPS). The chemical composition (protein, fat, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF)) and volume of gas production were measured. The results showed the highest percentage of protein (23.33) and fat (16.75) were found in PPS+U and FPS, respectively. The dried pomegranate seed pulp had the maximum amount of NDF and ADF. The maximum gas production volume during 24 hours was found in dried pomegranate seed pulp. The constant gas production rate per hour (c) was not significantly different between the treatments, but other fermentation parameters were higher in DPS than other samples. In general, our results showed that DSP, despite higher amount of NDF, has higher gas production and more energy, and also the PPS+U, is an appropriated protein feed, that these two pomegranate by-products can be tested in in vivo studies by replacement for some part of the forage and concentrate in ruminant rations.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of using organic acid and (acetic acid) and lactic acid bacteria on chemical composition, fermentation characteristic and gas production parameters of tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage in a completely randomized design. Representative of samples were packed manually, in triplicate into plastic bags and were stored at ambient temperature and allowed to ensiled for 1, 3, 7, 21,45 and 90 days. The following treatments were applied to the forage samples: 1) tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage mix (50:50), without any additives (control), 2) control + acetic acid (1% of DM), 3) control + LAB made inoculant (8×109 CFU/ml) and 4) control + organic acid + LAB made inoculants. Results showed that there were differences among treatments on DM content on day 7 (p<0.05). Although there was no significant difference among treatments on CP content, however, the highest and lowest decreasing trends were related to control and bacterial treatments, respectively. There were no significant differences among treatments on ADF and NDF contents in all ensiling times. The highest and lowest ash content was related to organic acid treated silage and control treatments. NH3-N increased with time post-ensiling, and there were significant among treatments on days 1, 45 and 90. Inoculated silage had the lowest pH (3.85) comaperd with other treatments on day 90. The control had the lowest gas production rate compared with other treatments; however, there were no differences among treatments on ME and SCFA. There were significant differences among treatments on digestability, partition factore and microbial protein on 21 and 45 days' silages. Generally, obtained results showed that different additives had no considerable effect on the nutritive value of tomato pomace and pumpkin waste silage.

Maintaining fertility in frozen sperm is very important. To investigate the effect of Artemisia (Artemisia incana) extract on sperm cryopservability of Moghani ram spermatozoa, different levels of the plant extract (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 ml per deciliter) were added after extraction to diluted semen with an extender containing citrate buffer. After chilling, the semen was packaged in 0.5 ml straws and stored inside the liquid nitrogen until the evaluation of qualitative properties. This experiment was designed with 4 replications (with 10 straws in each replicate) per experimental group. Evaluation of sperm viability using eosin-nigrosine staining showed that adding 4 ml of Artemisia extract per deciliter to sheep sperm diluent had a positive effect on sperm viability. Similarly, the HOST test (hypoosmotic swelling test) to examine the integrity of the plasma membrane showed that the treatment had the highest membrane integrity (P<0.05). The highest and lowest Total Motility (TM) was observed in experimental groups 4 and 10 ml of extract in diluted semen, respectively (P<0.05). Examination of peroxidative damage by measuring malondialdehyde showed the lowest amount of malondialdehyde production was seen in the treatment with 12 mg of extract per deciliter diluent that was significantly different from other experimental groups (P<0.05). According to the results of the present experiment, it seems that the use of 4 ml Artemisia extract per deciliter of the diluent has positive effects on the quality of sperm after freezing.

The purpose of this study was to compare feedlot performance and carcass characteristics in Lori-bakhtiari and Romanov-Lori bakhtiari crossbred male lambs. In this opinion, 14 Lori bakhtiari and 14 Romanov- Lori bakhtiari male lambs were selected and their feedlot performance was studied in a completely random design during 100 days of trial. Lambs were fed by a total mixed ration (TMR) with forage to concentrate ratio of 30:70 in diets. Feed intake was recorded daily and the lambs were weighted monthly. At the end of the experiment, lambs were slaughtered and carcass analysis was done. The results of feedlot performances showed that crossbreeding had no significant effect on dry matter intake, final live weight, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio. Studying the carcass characteristics showed that crossbreeding had no significant effect on the warm carcass weight, empty rumen, lung and liver percent and carcass length (p>0.05), but the percent of heart, kidney and the internal fat weight were significantly affected by crossbreeding (p<0.05). The effect of genotype on the longissimus dorsi muscle area was significant also (p<0.05). Crossbreeding had a significant effect on the percentage of shank, round, brisket, flank and sirioin (P<0.05) and increased them. In general, although the effect of crossbreeding was not significant on the feedlot performance parameters, but improved the proportion of carcass components.

Kidney stone is one of the most important diseases of the urinary tract and the most important cause of death due to urinary tract disease. The prevalence of urinary tract disease is increasing and therefore more effective and low-risk therapies are needed for treatment. Melon seeds have been suggested for the treatment of kidney diseases such as kidney stones. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of hydro-ethanolic extract of melon seed on renal expression of tamm-horsfall coding gene in male rats with kidney stones. Induction of calcium oxalate kidney stone was performed by oral treatment of ammonium chloride (3 days) and ethylene glycol (38 days) in male rats. Potassium citrate (2.5 g/Kg) and hydro-ethanolic extract of melon seed (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight) were treated orally with ethylene glycol for 38 days. After 41 days, the animals were anesthetized and right kidney was removed for evaluation of renal expression of tamm-horsfall coding gene by real-time PCR. Results showed that daily oral administration of potassium citrate and extract (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight) significantly increased the expression of tamm-horsfall coding gene (UMOD) in experimental rats compared to control rats (p<0.001). In conclusion, melon seed extract can improve kidney stone disease by enhancing the expression of tamm-horsfall encoding genes and is effective for treating the kidney stone disease.

The present study was performed to assess the effects of heat stress on on Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and catalase (CAT), Glutathione Peroxidase (GPX) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity of blood serum and liver in Rattus. In doing so, 15 specimens were assigned to 3 groups i.e. the control group (kept for 21 days at 24±1 C), the chronic stress group (kept for 21 days at 38±1 C), and the acute stress groups (kept for 20 days at 24±1 C+2 days at 38±1 C in four hr. intervals). At the end of the experiments 5cc cardiac blood was sampled from each specimen and oxidant/antioxidant factor levels (i.e. MDA, SOD, CAT, and GPX) were measured. Also, to measure these enzymes in liver tissue, this tissue was isolated and homogenized. The results showed that the amount of tissue malondialdehyde in all groups was significantly increased compared to its level in serum that in acute and chronic heat stress compared to the control group this increase was significant (p<0.05). This increase in serum glutathione peroxidase was also significant compared to the control group (p<0.05). There was a significant increase in the levels of catalase and superoxide dismutase enzymes in the acute stress group compared to the control group. In conclusion, heat stress seems to induce oxidative stress in Rattus.

The urban green space, with its food resources, water, and shelter, can support a significant number of birds. For this reason, studying the number and species of birds in urban parks can be effective in monitoring the health of ecosystems. To study the number and species of birds in the parks of Zayandeh-Rud, two transects with an approximate length of 4.5 km along the studied parks were established in the spring 2019. The distance between the sampling points on each transect was 50 meters, the number of sampling points was 50 points and the total of 100 sampling points or stations was designed. The number and pattern of bird distribution was performed using the point counting method every 5 minutes during each study, and all observed birds were recorded up to 50 m away. Using binoculars as well as sound tracking, existing birds were recorded and identified. The total number of observed species is 41, in which Passeriformes with 31 species have the highest frequency among other orders. All three Simpson, Shannon Wiener and Brillouin indices in Najwan Park have the highest values. The numbers of tree species in Nazhvan Park (756 trees) is in the second place after Saadi Park (1092 trees). The moderate weather, the distance from urban stresses and noise pollution can be considered as the reasons for the existence of high species diversity.

The Pigeon Adenovirus is one of the pathogenic agents of pigeons that belong to the family Adenoviridae and Aviadenovirus genus. The virus causes two clinical illnesses called adenovirosis type I and II. Both types of disease have a great effect on the population of pigeons, resulting in losses and economic damages. In this study, which was performed for the first time in Iran and Khuzestan province, 120 fecal samples were collected from healthy and sick pigeons with clinical symptoms of lethargy, anorexia, weight loss with watery green and yellow diarrhea. The microtubes containing the feces were sent separately to the laboratory. DNA samples were extracted for the PCR test. A pair of primers was used to identify positive isolates of pigeon adenoviruses. After the PCR test, PiAdV-1 was detected in 5 samples of pigeon droppings (4.16%), which is the first molecular detection of PiAdV-1 in pigeon feces in Iran. Due to the pollution of the city of Ahvaz to PiAdV-1, this should be considered during the clinical examination of pigeons that have symptoms such as sudden death, vomiting, acute watery diarrhea, and weight loss to differentiate from the same diseases and to use fair supportive medicine and prevent no useful treatments.

One of the factors may affect the productivity and economic index of broiler industry is the mortality at the end of the growth period. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of mortality in broiler chickens and the management parameters. For this purpose, the management information of 30 poultry farms from 1396 and 1397 was collected. Using logistics analysis, the effect of various factors on the mortality rate was investigated. Our results showed that the effects of all factors examined in this model were positive, which were not significant for the factors of breeding season, building type, experience of managers, and biosecurity level, despite their importance in loss percentage. The results of this study showed that management parameters have key role in the mortality rate and consequently economic productivity of a broiler farm.

This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments, 6 repetitions and 10 chicken in each repetition in order to evaluate the effect of selenium supplement immune system related treats, egg qualitative characteristics, blood parameters and antibody titers against Newcastle disease and influenza, laying hens w36 strains. Experimental treatments include: (1) basic diet, (2) basic diet plus 0.5 mg/kg of Sodium selenite (3) basic diet plus 1 mg/kg of Sodium selenite, (4) basic diet plus 0.5 mg/kg of selenium-methionine and (5) base diets plus 1 mg/kg of selenium-methionine. The results show egg traits were not affected by experimental treatments (P>0.05). treatment of 0.5 and 1 mg/kg of selenium-methionine significantly reduced the enzyme Aspartate Amino Transferase (P<0.05). Also, treatments containing organic selenium significantly reduced the enzyme Alanine Amino Transferase (P<0.05). The results showed that 0.5 mg/kg of selenium-methionine significantly increased the levels of immunoglobulin G, M and A compared to other experimental treatments (P<0.05). However, the levels of immunoglobulins A and M in organic and inorganic sources were not significantly affected by selenium levels (P>0.05). Newcastle antibody titers did not significantly differentiate between experimental treatments (P>0.05). However, 1 mg/kg of selenium-sodium significantly reduced the antibody titer of influenza (P<0.05). In general, although the consumption of organic and inorganic sources of selenium was ineffective on egg characteristics, organic sources of selenium more effectively stimulate the immune system and increase blood immunoglobulins than non-organic sources.

The most important factors involved in sperm fertility are motility, morphology and sperm membrane integrity. The studies show that, the addition of Pentoxifylline(PTX) can increase sperm motility by increasing energy production. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of adding Pentoxifylline to rooster semen on qualitative parameters of rooster sperm after 6 hours of storage at 4°C. Semen samples were collected from 15 Ross 308 roosters at 28 weeks of age. After initial evaluations, semen samples were mixed together to eliminate individual differences. After diluting the semen and adding different levels of Pentoxifylline (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 μM), the samples were kept at 4°C for 6 hours. Then, sperm kinetic parameters were evaluated. The results showed that the addition of 0.75 μM PTX significantly improved progressive mobility, curvilinear velocity, viability and plasma membrane integrity of spermatozoa compared to the control group (P<0.05).  In overall, it can be concluded that methylxanthine-derived drugs such as Pentoxifylline can have a significant effect on the motility, viability and plasma membrane integrity of rooster sperm in the short period of time.

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effect of different processes on production line energy consumption, quality and hygienic parameters of broiler chicken pellet. This experiment was performed in 40 treatments and each treatment included 5 replications in the form of a factorial experimental design (2×2×2×5), To evaluate the effect of two sizes of feed particles with different geometric mean diameters (500 and 1000 μm), two types of heating temperatures (80 and 85 ̊C), two different conditioning times (40 and 120 seconds) and 5 types of processing (vertical conditioner, vertical conditioner + expander, expander, horizontal conditioner and horizontal conditioner + expander) were performed. According to the results, the lowest energy consumption at different times and temperatures used in the experiment was related to processing with horizontal conditioner + expander, expander and vertical conditioner + expander, respectively (P<0.0001). Diet processing with vertical conditioner had the highest quality (P<0.0001). Also, processing with conditioner alone or with an expander could reduce the microbial load of the diet (P<0.0001). In general, the results showed that pellet grain processing increases its quality and durability and is effective in reducing the microbial load of the diet.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary biotronic organic supplement and silymarin nanocrystal supplement with and without LPS factor on liver chemical analysis, histology and immune-cell changes and blood parameters of broiler chicks.This experiment was conducted in2×4 factorial arrangementwith completely randomized design using 192 day old male broiler chicks in 8 treatments, 4 replications and 12 chicks per each replicate.The factors of interest included LPS in two levels of (with and without LPS) and silymarin nano-crystal, biotronic organic supplement factor in 4 levels including (zero, biotronicorganic supplement, nano-crystal sily marin, and biotronic organic supplement complementary nano-crystal silymarin The results showed that the use of organic biotronic and silymarin nanocrystalline supplements and their mix significantly reduced the ALT, AST and percentage of mitotic liver lesions (P<0.05). Application of nano-crystal silymarin and organic biotronic supplement had significant effect on hepatic factors such as hepatocyte count, hepatocyte diameter and sinusoid size but had no significant effect on hepatocyte nucleus diameter.LPS also significantly altered blood parameters and cellular enzymes (P<0.05). Biotronic and nano-crystal silymarin supplementand their mix significantly improved the changes (P<0.05). The results of this study showed that the using of organic biotronic supplement and silimarin nano-crystal, and especially their mix, improved the performance of liver and chemical and cellular enzymes and liver blood parameters.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different levels of peppermint and rosemary powder mixture on performance, carcass characteristics and some blood parameters of Japanese quails challenged with dexamethasone from 21 to 35 days of age using 96 female birds in 6 dietary treatments with 4 replicates birds in each replicate. The experimental treatments consisted of the control group (basal diet without any injection), saline injection, injection of 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone and 0.25, 0.5 or 1% of herbal mixture challenged with injection of 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone. The results showed that body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion rate (FCR) of quails, respectively, decreased and increased significantly by dexamethasone injection, but inclusion of 1% of herbal mixture significantly improved these indicators from 29 to 35 days of age. Quails fed 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone alone or together with 0.25, 0.5 or 1% herbal mixture had higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) on 35 d. Moreover, the utilization of 1% peppermint and rosemary mixture together with 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone significantly decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) of serum compared to control group and groups containing saline, 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone or 0.4 mg/kg dexamethasone + 0.25% herbal mixture. In conclusion, the results of current study showed that consumption of 1% of rosemary and peppermint powder mixture could partially decrease unfavorable effects of dexamethasone administration in Japanese quails.

The experiment was designed to investigate the effect of adding rosemary powder (Rosmarinus officinalis) along with sesame and soybean oil on changes in intestinal morphology, meat quality and some blood indices in the Japanese quail. The experiment was performed in factorial based on completely randomized design with 6 treatments, 4 replications and 15 meat quail pieces in each repetition. Experimental treatments include: 1) Sesame oil + zero surface of rosemary 2) Sesame oil + 1 g/kg rosemary 3) Sesame oil + 2 g/kg rosemary 4) Soybean oil + zero level of rosemary 5) Soybean oil + level one of rosemary 6 ) Soybean oil + level two rosemary. On the final 35 day of the experiment, two quails (male and female) were selected from each pen that weighed close to the average weight of the population. Each quail was manually peeled and carcasses separately, and different parts of the body were weighed and internal organs were weighed. The results showed that head, thigh, pancreatic, heart, gingival and testicular relative weight were not significantly different in experimental treatments (P <0.05). But the effect of sesame oil was more than soybean oil (P<0.05). In blood indices, urea levels were significantly reduced with increasing rosemary powder levels (P<0.05).Meat pH did not differ between the experimental group. Beyond the TBA, there was a significant difference between the experimental treatments (p<0.05). TBA decreased with increasing amount of Rosemary powder. In cookingloss, there was no significant difference between the experimental treatments. In drippingloss, there was no significant difference between experimental treatments. As a result, the use of Rosemary powder and sesame oil in  diet can have positive and beneficial effects on quail.

The aim of this study was to model suitable habitats and suggest conservation implications for Dice snake (Natrix tessellata) in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. In this research, the maximum entropy algorithm was used to predict distribution of suitable habitats of the species across the province. The AUC value for modeling of distribution of suitable habitats obtained 0.90. Based on the results, less than three percent of the province (about 400 km2) was estimated as the highly suitable habitat (<0.6). While it seems that most of the distribution range of the species was located in the central regions of the province, but its desirable habitats can be seen in all of the counties of province. Also, about 7.60% (30.33 km2) of highly suitable habitats (<0.6) of this species is covered by the conservation network (including protected areas and no-hunting areas). The variables of distance to river (38.8%), altitude (17.1%), distance to agricultural lands (14.2%), and distance to forest areas (8.9%) had the highest contribution (79%) in the modeling of distribution of suitable habitats of Dice snake. Finally, conservation implications for management and conservation of Dice snake was presented.

Structural studies are important for connection between morphology and behavior in organisms, but there is still little information about descriptive details of terrestrial turtles. There are degrees of variation in cranial osteology in other turtle species, which can be also significant in Testudo graeca. The present study presents the first detailed description of the Testudo graeca cranial osteology, a terrestrial turtle that currently occurs in different parts of Iran. In this study, four specimens collected from Dinvar and Chaharzebar regions in Kermanshah province were used. Using common protocols for bone cleansing, the skulls were removed and scanned, and photographed using a loop equipped with digital camera. The skull of Testudo graeca encompass 49 bones (22 pairs and five single bones) that is including a flat skull roof, numerous extremely wide skull elements, and a compressed neurocranium possibly the functional result of life habit. Results showed that specific variations in skull osteology, including scale, shape, location and articulation, can have different effects on animal behavior.

Distributional range shift of Amphibian populations especially toads are tightly related to enviromental changes and their survival are threatened by ecological and anthropogenic factors. Talysh toad Bufo eichwaldi occurs in a limited area through the southern margin of the Caspian Sea including north Iran and the southeast of Azerbaijan and has recently considered vulnerable by IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In this study, 52 occurence records and 20 bioclimatic variables were used for modeling of habitat suitability of B. eichwaldi using maximum entropy algorithm implemented in MaxEnt software package. The results showed that Mean Temperature of Coldest Quarter, Temperature Seasonality, Minimum Temperature of Coldest Month, and Precipitation of Coldest Quarter are the most important predictors for B. eichwaldi suitable habitat. The MaxEnt model indicted that the habitat of B. eichwaldi has been fragmented in the Hyrcanian forest of the south Caspian Sea, which may cause its populaton decline. It is deduced that distributional range of B. eichwaldi in the south of the Caspian Sea experienced contraction due to climate change and human interference comparing to last decades indicating need for conservation programs to protect the Talysh Toad population in the Hyrcanian forest.

Henna contains various compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, trinoids, quinone, coumarins, xanthones and fatty acids. In the present study, the disinfectant effects of henna extract compared to copper sulfate (CuSo4.5H2O) and effects on gill and liver histopathology in Siberian sturgeon were studied (Acipenser baerii). 500 fish (15 gr) were selected. At first, the LC50 and then the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of Henna extracts were determined. Then, six treatments were designed, each with 3 repetitions. In treatments 1 to 4, amount of MAC, 25%, 50%, and 75% of the MAC value were used. Also, in treatment 5, copper sulfate at 0.07 mg / l was used to compare its effect with others. Fish were exposeed to different concentrations for 4 days (96 hours). The bacterial and fungal loads of gill and skin was counted on TSA and SDA plate agar, respectively. Histology of gill and liver were examined after preparing tissue sections. The results showed that after copper sulfate, the best (lowest) values were observed in treatments 2 (25% MAC value of henna) and 3 (50% MAC value of henna) in terms of bacterial and fungal loads. The least tissue damage was observed in treatments 2 (25% MAC value of henna) and 3 (50% MAC value of henna) in terms of gill and liver lesions and other treatments had the most tissue lesions. Generally, it can be concluded that treatments 2 (25% MAC value of henna) and 3 (50% MAC value of henna) can be a good alternative to copper sulfate.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the number, catch composition, and catch per unit effort (CPUE) of sturgeon spawners by gillnet in the fishing grounds of Golestan province. Sampling and data collection were conducted in the 4 fishing grounds according to the fishing seasons of sturgeon fish using gillnets (Polyamide) with a mesh size of 150 mm from autumn 2018 to autumn 2019. Five species of sturgeon fish including Acipenser persicus, Huso huso, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, Acipenser nudiventris, and Acipenser stellatus were caught during the sampling period. The highest fish weight was observed in autumn 2019 (946 kg) and the lowest was in spring 2019 (242 kg). The highest total catch weight and fishing effort were obtained for matured males of A. persicus (389 kg and 0.9 g/fishing effort) and the lowest was for matured females of A. stellatus (13 kg and 0.03 g/fishing effort). According to the results of the Chi-square test, the separate and simultaneous effect of sampling time and the location was significant on the number of matured Acipenser persicus (P<0.05).

This research was carried out with the aim of molecular identification and using cytochrome oxidase gene of two species of ornamental fish native to Iran entitled Aphanius vladykovi and Aphanius ginaonis. Five samples of each fish were collected from Sarcheshmeh Park (Aloni city, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province) and Genu spring (Bandar Abbas) and after morphological identification and DNA extraction, they were sequenced. Then using BioEdit software and the NCBI database, the amount of homology of the obtained sequences was measured. The analysis of the evolution tree was performed by the closest proximity and parsimony method based on the Kimura 2-parameter model using mega software. The results showed that these species were genetically close to each other in different parts of Fars province (A. vladykovi) and Turkey, and a clade with two sister clusters next to the species belonging to the northern offerings more than Turkey includes Aphanius anatoliae, Aphanius sureyanus, Aphanius maeandricus and Aphanius iconii. The greatest genetic differences can be observed between the specimens of Aphanius vladykovi from Sarcheshmeh Park spring and Aphanius sureyanus from Turkey, which was not unexpected due to the deep geographical gap between the mentioned regions. At the same time, the species Aphanius Genu shows itself in a separate clade with a large genetic distance. Various geological factors caused Genu fish to separate itself from other studied species and to hide in Hormozgan region. As a result, the gene flow between this region and other regions has stopped, and caused the Aphanius ginaonis in Hormozgan province to remain as a unique species.

This research was occurred to investigate some morphometric characteristics of Clupeonella cultriventris in Amirabad port, Babolsar and Anzali port in the South Basin of the Caspian Sea during summer 2019. A total of 90 fish including 30 specimens from each station were caught and 23 morphometric Characteristics were studied. Mean difference coefficients of morphometric characteristics for common kilka in Amirabad port, Babolsar, and Anzali port were 9.34, 8.77 and 11.03, respectively. Morphometric data before analysis were standardized to reduce errors of allometric growth. Results of 23 morphometric characteristics in three stations indicated significant differences between stations (P≤0.05). Bandar Anzali station differs in 23 morphometric characteristics with Babolsar port and in 20 characteristics with Bandar Amirabad. Babolsar and Bandar Amirabad station differed only in 3 characteristics. The principal component analysis was performed on 7 factors which concluded 74.924% of the characteristics. Results of fish morphometric characteristics showed an overlapping between Babolsar station with two stations of Amirabad port and Bandar Anzali port, but stations of Bandar Amirabad and Bandar Anzali were not overlapped. In this study, geographical separation can be considered as the most influential factor in morphological differences between the fish of three studied areas.

Determination of population dynamics is the important indicator for evaluating of status and management of commercial species. In this research, trend catch and demographic characteristics and demographic characteristics of Bigeye tuna (T. obesus) were estimated by collecting information from 4 catchment areas on the coast of Sistan and Baluchestan Province including Brace, Ramin, Pozem and Konarak. In this project, more than 800 fish at the research stations were biometric and the growth parameters were L∞ = 113 cm, growth factor K = 0.45 (yr-1), natural mortality M= 0.71(yr-1), mortality and mortality (yr-1), F = 0.15, total mortality (yr-1), Z = 0.86 and exploitation coefficient (yr-1), E = 0.18, and the time zero was -0.25 for the years. Relative production per recruitment, relative biomass per recruitment, exploitation rate and average annual standing stock for kawakawa species were estimated Y '/ Rp =0.02, B' / Rp = 0.70, U= 0.10, respectively. This study shows that annual harvest of Bigeye tuna fish is less than its optimal level and can be planned for further exploitation of this species, especially offshore and international waters.

The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of catch changes, diversity indices (Margalef, Pilo, Shannon-Wiener) of pelagic and demersal fish in Bushehr province during the years 2004 to 2016. In this research, about 50 species including benthic, fine loss level and the level of large losses was collected from the docks of Bushehr city. The catching trend of these species in this ten-year period was analyzed using Pearson Test, time series and analysis of variance. The results of Pearson correlation test showed that there is no significant relationship between catch volume and reserves, but there is a significant relationship between time and catch. After confirming the Pearson test and confirming the negative relationship between time and catch, the results of analysis of variance showed that there is no linear relationship between time and catch and the chart is broken. The results showed that the catch of benthic and pelagic species increased in Bushehr province during the years 2004 to 2008 and since then this trend has been accompanied by decreasing fluctuations, which was mainly due to reduced fishing effort on the stocks of this species. The results also showed that the total catch of fish in Bushehr province has increased from 35,299 tons in 2004 with a growth of approximately 65% ​​to 50,100 tons in 2016. The study of CPUA index showed a decrease in the abundance of species of great economic importance in recent years.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of different levels of inorganic supplements in hydroponic system with the re-use of water on some parameters related to Nile tilapia health status. Materials &

To address that, 180 fish weighing 30±3.8 g was divided into 9 experimental units (3 for each treatment). Three different treatments were applied, including 0, 25 and 75% of nutrient requirement for hydroponic system and these levels were added to the diet of fish. Following 70 days of dietary administration, blood samples were withdrawn for caudal vein of 5 fish. Intestine sample was also taken in order to determine the bacterial microflora and histological changes.

Obtained results showed significant changed in hematological and immunological parameters in dietary treatment as compared with control (P<0.05). Total number of bacteria in intestine was significantly (P<0.05) elevated in treatment 3 as compared with other treatments. The applied diets had significant impacts on histological indices, including villi height and diameter, total number of leucocyte and mucus-secreting cells (P<0.05).

Generally, epithelium development of intestine besides the improvement of hematological parameters and stimulation of immunity system could perhaps indicate the better health status of Nile tilapia following dietary manipulation by inorganic supplementation.

Today, due to the rapid global demand for food, Asian cassava is one of the best farmed fish in the domestic and foreign markets due to its rapid growth and ability to adapt to different environmental conditions. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of density on growth performance, nutrition and survival percentage of Asian Lates calcarifer in earthen ponds of Gwadar site for 6 months. In this study, storage from April to September 2019 in two different densities: 0.5 fish m-2 or 900 fish in each pond with an area of 1800 m2 and one fish m-2 or 1800 fish with an initial weight of 60 g. It was performed in each pool with the same area with two replications. Physical and chemical factors of water, temperature, oxygen, pH and salinity were examined continuously; bioassay was examined On a monthly basis. Based on the results, at the end of the experiment, the highest daily growth rate (4.8±0.78 g) and average monthly growth (141.5±13.6 g) and the average monthly growth increase (60±7.7%) were observed in the pool with a density of 0.5 fish m-2 (p<0.05). The mean feed conversion ratio and survival percentage of ponds were not significantly different from each other (p>0.05). In total, based on the results of this study, the density of 900 sea bass in an earthen pond with an area of 1800 m2 is recommended in order to improve growth indices.

Copper is one of the heavy metals used in aquaculture for the elimination of algae, as well as prevention and treatment of fish diseases. The effects of sub-lethal doses of copper sulfate in zebra fish ovary tissue were investigated in 30-day exposure. For this purpose, 270 females with average weight of 0.3±0.05 were subjected to 0, 0.02 and 0.04 mg/l cuso4. At the end trail, samplings were done from gonad tissue and the tissue sections were prepared. Results showed that in the control group, ovary tissue was normal and major of the oocytes were sexually at the beginning and end of fourth stage. In 0.02 mg/l oocytes were in the second and third stage. In 0.04 mg/l, the slight growth of ovarian was observed and oocytes were in the second stages and a number of oocytes were observed at the beginning of third stage and atrotic follicles were observed in gonad tissue. This process shows an increase in egg growth with increasing copper sulfate concentration.

The dilemma of contaminating water resources with heavy metals has doubled the need to measure heavy metals in fish that reach in the food cycle to the human ecosystem. This study was conducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals (lead, mercury and cadmium) in sediments and trout flesh farmed on the banks used water of the Beshar River in Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad province. To measure the heavy metals, randomly sample  river sediments in the entrance area of water inlet  two rainbow trout farms in the lower part of the Beshar River and downstream of Yasouj and muscle tissue of fish in these farms. The total number of sediment samples and fish muscle were 64 samples (32 sediment samples and 32 fish samples). After transferring the samples to the laboratory and preparing, the atomic absorption apparatus was used according to the standard method to determine the concentration of heavy metals. The mean concentrations of mercury, cadmium and lead in fish muscle of the farms of Beshar River were 0.12±0.04 , 0.0041±0.0015  and 0.08±0.01 mg/kg, respectively. Concentrations of mercury, cadmium and lead in the trout of the Beshar rivers are below the FAO, EC, MAFF and FDA standards. Based on the results of this research and this situation, the fish of  the farms of the margin of Beshar River is healthy for human consumption and free from heavy metal contamination based on the  wourld standards.

This study was conducted to reverse female trout to male (XX male) by oral administration of 17-alpha-methyl testosterone. For this purpose, 12,000 larvae of rainbow trout were fed from the beginning of active feeding with diets containing 0 (control), 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mg 17-alpha-methyl testosterone per kg of feed for 60 days. The growth performance and survival were evaluated during this period. In addition, the treated fish were fed with hormone-free commercial diet for 18 months until their sex glands had grown. The sex reversal of fish was performed by sampling from 120 numbers of fry (2g mean weight) fin tails, designing specific primers and PCR assay. The results of growth showed that there was no significant difference in growth parameters among treatments (P>0.05). Fish treated with the hormone had lower survival rate (82.1±1.1%) compared to the control group (P<0.05). By necropsy and direct observation of the sexual organs of the breeders, the ratio of female to male sex reversal was increased by increasing the concentration of the hormone from 0.5 to 2 mg/kg in the diets and the best efficiency was obtained in 2 mg/kg of 17-alpha-methyl testosterone (P<0.05). The results of this study showed that the highest ratio of male XX breeders (96.0±1.0%) was observed in the fish fed with alpha methyl testosterone at 2 mg/kg of feed. Also, the PCR test had the specificity to identify the sex reversal of rainbow trout fry as a non-invasive method.

In the present study, the effects of dietary sodium propionate as an acidifier additive on some indices of growth, survival rate, and serum immunity of goldfish were investigated. In this study, 240 fish with an average initial weight of 7.2±0.75 g were randomly distributed in 12 aquariums. The fish were fed with the levels of 0 (control), 1.5% and 2.5% sodium propionate in the feed for 60 days. The results showed that weight gain, weight gain percentage, specific growth rate, condition coefficient, and survival rate in the treated fish were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05). However, the highest feed conversion ratio was observed in the control group (P<0.05). Also, the highest levels of serum immunoglobulin M (9.64±0.11 mg/l) and lysozyme (15.61±1.03 μg/ml/min) were observed in 2.5% sodium propionate treatment compared to others (P<0.05). According to the results of this study, the use of 2.5% sodium propionate in goldfish diet acts as a growth stimulator and can enhance the growth performance along with the immune system.

This Study was conducted to evaluate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and its relationship with bacterial load, chlorophyll a, nutrients, and fish growth in three larval ponds of common carp with areas of 3.5, 2.5, and 0.7 ha and three larval ponds of grass carp with areas of 0.7, 0.9, and 1 hectare located in Barardeh village, Sari city. Samples of water quality parameters such as temperature, oxygen, pH, DOC, nitrate, total nitrogen, ammonia, phosphate, bacterial, and chlorophyll a were taken weekly from 45 cm of water surface in inlet and outlet of the ponds. Regression relationships were then investigated between DOC and the studied parameters and fish biomass in the rearing ponds. The results showed that there were significant and non-significant relationships between the monthly averages of DOC and some nutrients such as nitrate, phosphate, and ammonia in inlets and outlets of the rearing ponds. The mean monthly DOC showed a significant relationship with the biomass values of common carp and grass carp, while its relationship with chlorophyll a content was significant in inlets but not in outlets of fishponds. In addition, DOC did not show a significant relationship with bacterial load in both common and grass carp ponds. Comparisions of physicochemical and biological parameters showed significant differences among months for some physicochemical parameters (p<0.05).

Protein nutrition and amino acid (AA) supply have a positive effect on survival and immunity of bee colonies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of L-Methionine, L-Lysin, and L-Threonine on body weight, protein, and lipid reservation of honey bees. For this purpose, 78 beehives were randomly allocated into 13 groups and received one of the experimental treatments. Groups Met-1, Met-2 and Met-3 received 0.3, 0.6 and 1.2 gram in L-Methionine sugar nectar respectively. Groups Lys-1, Lys-2 and Lys-3 received 1.51, 3.02- and 6.05-gram L-Lysin in sugar nectar respectively, moreover, groups Thr-1, Thr-2, Thr-3 received 0.572, 1.145- and 2.29-gram L-Threonine in sugar nectar. In addition, the combination of three different levels of three different AA were considered as (L-Methionine, L-Lysin, and L-Threonine) MLT-1, MLT-2 and MLT-3 respectively. A group has also considered as control that did not receive any additional AA supplements. The body weight, body protein and lipid content have been assessed at the end of the experiment. The results of this study indicated that MLT-3 group showed higher body weight and protein content comparing to the other groups (p≤0.05). In addition, MLT-1 and MLT-2 showed higher body weight compared to the rest of the treatments (p≤0.05). Based on the result of this study, different levels of L-Methionine caused higher protein reservations compared to the control group (p≤0.05). The results show that L-Methionine, L-Lysin, and L-Threonine did not affect body lipid reservation of honey bees (p≥0.05). In conclusion, the addition of a combination of L-Methionine, L-Lysin, and L-Threonine to diet, can increase body protein reserve and bodyweight leading to increase the productivity and survival of honey bee colonies.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of mulberry mixture cultivation compared to single mulberry cultivation mode on the biological performance of silkworm. In this experiment, a mixture of mung bean, bean, fodder corn, pumpkin stew and horseradish was used among the rows of berries, and in a single ship, special berries were used. In order to evaluate the quality of the leaves produced after the cultivation of the mentioned plants, the leaves were used in silkworm feeding. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications per treatment. Each replicate consisted of one hundred and fifty-one-day-old larvae of the 154×153 commercial hybrids. The larvae were bred according to the standard methods of the Iran Silk Research Center (ISRC). The results showed that the total number of cocoons, the number of good cocoons, the total weight of the cocoons, the weight of the good cocoon and the weight of one female and male cocoon in the berry-bean treatment had the highest value compared to the single treatment of mulberry (P<0.05). Also, the number of alive good cocoons in the berry-bean treatment was significantly higher than other treatments (P<0.05). In general, the results showed that the type of plant planted with the mulberry tree had a significant positive effect on most traits of silkworms compared to single planting.

The pastures on the outskirts of Hyderabad are among the lowland pastures of Shabestar city, located 30 km from it, located in East Azarbaijan province., which play an important role in providing the pollen and nectar needed by bees during the summer. In order to study the flowering period of 21 species of Asteraceae genus that grow in these rangelands, at an altitude of 1500 m with a distance of 50 m from the sea level, 10 bases of each of the studied species were marked every five days from 2017 to 2019. Statistical calculations in this study were performed by SPSS software. The results showed that in terms of vegetation Onopordon acanthium, Sonchus oleraceus, Echinops robustus, Picnomon acarna, Lactuca serriola had the fastest time to start growing on April 14 and Cirsium vulgare had the latest time to start growing on April 30 in the study area. Also Anthemis psedocotula, Onopordon acanthium, Sonchus oleraceus, Echinops robustus, Picnomon acarna, Achillea wilhelmsii have the fastest flowering time up to first May. Among the studied plants Achillea wilhelmsii, Anthemis hyalina have the fastest time to reach the peak of flowering (early June) and also the plants Taraxacum syriacum, Cirsium vulgare, Gundelia tourtnefortii, Cirsium congestum have flowering period in summer, especially in August and September.

In the southern basin of Caspian Sea, rock pool prawn (Palaemon elegans) is very abundant and plays an important role in the food chain of this region. The aims of this study were to investigate the biometry characteristics, determine the long-weight relations and growth pattern of this species in the coasts of Gilan province. At each sampling stage, environmental factors were measured and the samples were transferred to the laboratory after stabilization and biometry according to the standards. The data were classified based on gender and three stages before, time and after spawning. The results showed that females had more weight than males and the average total weight of females before, at and after spawning were 0.759, 1.246, 0.518 g and the average weight of males was 663, respectively. 0.00, 0.900 and 0.337 g and there was a significant difference in time between the two sexes (P<0.05). Significant differences in total length, carapace length, propude length and total weight were also observed in the specified time intervals (P<0.05). Examination of longitudinal-weight relations showed that the value of b in male and female shrimp was close to 3 and had an allometric positive, although this relationship was always higher in males than females and at the time of spawning with a significant reduction in females. It was observed due to physiological changes (P<0.05).

The present research was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of lycopene pigment on bio-chemical hemolymph parameters, total carotenoid content and intestinal microbial flora of Oriental river prawn. In this experiment, two hundred and twenty-five prawns with mean weight of 1.40±0.07 gram were fed by five dietary treatments containing different levels of lycopene zero (control), 50, 100, 150 and 200 milligrams lycopene per kilogram diet for eight weeks. Results from the measurement of hemolymph bio-chemical parameters at the end of the culture period showed that experimental diets containing lycopene pigment in most of these parameters showed a significant difference with the control treatment (p<0.05). However, calcium, phosphorus and cholesterol were not affected by different levels of lycopene (p>0.05). Indices of urea, glucose, uric acid, creatinine, and triglycerides were significantly lower in treatments fed with lycopene than control treatment, whereas the highest levels of HDL and LDL were observed in treatments containing lycopene (p<0.05). Measuring the total carotenoid content of experimental treatments showed a significant difference and also evaluation of the intestinal microbial flora at the end of the experimental period indicated that there was significant difference in the total bacteria count between the experimental treatments (p<0.05). Finally, the results of this study showed that increased levels of dietary lycopene improved the bio-chemical hemolymph parameters and total carotenoid content of the Oriental river prawn and adding 200 milligrams lycopene per kilogram of this pigment to the diet was suggested to improve the parameters that mentioned of this prawn.

Oriental River Prawn Macrobrachium nipponense, originating in Japan and China, is one of the exotic species in Anzali wetland. It has a high population in many parts of it, especially in inlet rivers. To estimate the population in Anzali Wetland, 18 traps (Opera House and Hokkaido) were used during the two periods of July and August in three parts; including western area, SiahDarvishan and Sorkhankol. The trend of catch per unit of effort has been declining in July while an increase in catching was observed in August in two regions of SiahDarvishan and Saorkhankol. The average catch was 100 and 145 per unit of daily effort in August and July, respectively. The average weight of the individuals was 3.3±0.5 gr. The population was estimated 228±178 and 194±58 gr/m2 in July and August, respectively. These estimations are greater than those provided by other natural water resources such as marine areas for different species. For a clearer conclusion for potential of species to exploit are needed more investigation.

The goal of this study was to investigate in Gammarus parthicus, body length frequency distribution (male, female) and relationship between clutch size and different body parts (head, pereon, pleon). Sampling from a Qanat in 2019 was done in Birjand city (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). Totally, 252 gammaruses were catched. In each sampling, one hour was attempted to catch gammaruses by a hand sieve with one mm mesh size. To measure, a stereo microscope and millimeter paper were used and the samples were photographed. With a petri dish and the plastic talc (placed over the samples) gammaruses were photographed lively. Length was measured from the beginning of the head (Rostrum) to the end of tail (Telson). In addition, head, back and tail length were measured separately. Image-J software was used to analyze the resulted images. The mean total length of males and females gammaruses in four seasons were (Mean± SE) (15.75±1.21) and (12.93±1.43) respectively. Sex ratios differed according to the seasons. The total body length was obtained as a model of the explanatory variables including head length, tail length and season. The most sex ration in spring (1.39) and the lowest one in winter (0.31) were observed respectively. The total body length was obtained as a model of the explanatory variables including head length, tail length and season. The number of eggs (clutch size) per fertilized female was obtained by tearing the bag of eggs. The number of eggs was counted in a sample of gammaruses after 10 days keeping in the climate room. The climate room was used to simulate the reproduction conditions. The number of eggs was obtained as a model of head length and tail length. The report of Gammarus in the east of Iran and the influence of season in life cycle of the Gammarus.

Sea cucumber is one of the most important marine invertebrates with many properties, including antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer. These properties are attributed to important compounds such as flavonoids, glycoltropenoids, chondroitin sulfate, amino-glycolic glucose, and fatty acids. The present study was conducted to extract, isolate, and identify flavonoids from Holothuria leucospilota species of sea cucumber. Samples of the H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber were collected from Hengam Island in Persian Gulf, and once dried, the extract was obtained from their powder. The extraction process involved soaking in 70% methanol solution, filtering with Whatman paper filter, and isolation of the extract in a rotary device. The flavonoids were isolated from the pure extract using silica gel column. The presence of flavonoids in isolated fractions was examined using Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Gas Chromatography (GC-Mass) techniques. The color change to dark purple in TLC indicated the presence of flavonoids in the H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber. Then, the presence of flavonoids in samples was identified and confirmed through GC-Mass technique. The dry fraction contained 37.47mg of flavonoids. The present study results showed that H. leucospilota species of sea cucumber is a rich source of Flavylium type of flavonoids, and its antioxidant and anti-radical properties can be examined as a source of medication and food.

Coral reefs provide the important and diverse part of ecosystem biologically. The population of hermatypic coral is declining around the world, in response to various stress factors including increasing sea surface temperatures. The increase of sea surface temperature leads to the collapse of symbiosis life between coral and its symbiont; so the algal colonies leave corals and results in the loss of corals’ colors. The highest threshold of bleaching has been observed in the coral reefs of the Persian Gulf. In this study, the status of the Persian Gulf coral reefs is shown in the Khark, Hendourabi, Kish and Larak Islands from January 2010 to September 2019 by direct observation and photographing. According to the observations, the health of corals has fallen sharply over this period, and there is less than 10% live coral in some parts of the Larak and Hendorabi islands. Despite the exceptional capacity of the Persian Gulf corals to survive over high temperatures compared to other coral reefs, when the temperature exceeds the tolerance threshold, these corals will also be bleached.

This study focused on phytoplankton structure and compared with previously study at the 5 stations between 2017 and 2019 in the Chitgar Lake. This study identified 37 phytoplankton taxa comprised of Diatoms (12 genus), Chlorophyta (10 genus), Cyanophyta (8 genus), dinoflagellates (3 genus), chrysophytes (1 genus) and Euglenophyta (3 genus) in the lake. The finding showed, the Diatom abundance dominate (average of 8700000 ± 7900000 cells.l-1) in the lake. The annual average phytoplankton abundance was calculated as 13400000, with the maximum value recorded in March 2018 (23000000 ± 8500000 cell. l-1). The results showed that the abundance of phytoplankton increased (more than 5-fold). Chlorophyll a, 0.5 μg / L was recorded in this study, which was 5 times more than in 2013-14. Phacus, Trachelomonas and Euglena genera from Euglenophyta phylum were first observed in lake, the presence of Euglenophyta indicating increased lake contamination trend. The abundance and species diversity of green-blue algae decreased after release of silver carp in the lake in June 2019. The abundance of Oscillatoria increased from 800,000 cell. l-1 in September 2018 to 200,000 cell. l-1 in June 2019. The decrease in cyanophyta abundance has prevented the unpleasant odor and prevented the increase of insects in the environment around the lake, preventing aquatic mortality and increasing trend of tourists.

Excessive use of antibiotics in the livestock and poultry industry has led to antibiotic resistance in livestock and humans. The use of metal Nano-oxides and nanocomposites has been considered as a new strategy to combat infectious diseases. In this study, the antibacterial activity of iron oxide and graphene oxide nanoparticles and their nanocomposites were investigated. aureus; S. For this purpose, antibacterial activity of iron oxide (Fe2o3; F), Graphene oxide (GO), 0.018g reduced graphene oxide-Fe2O3 Nanocomposite (FG1), 0.036g reduced graphene oxide-Fe2O3 Nanocomposite (FG2), 0.072g reduced graphene oxide-Fe2O3 Nanocomposite (FG3) against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli; E. coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria was screened. The antibacterial activity of the five different nanoparticles was assessed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and the time-kill assay methods. The antibacterial results showed that except for FG1, for the rest of the nanoparticles MIC were 60 μL/mL for E. coli and 50 μL/mL for S. aureus. Moreover, the time-kill assay revealed that the growth of both bacteria was inhibited from the 2nd hour onwards for all nanoparticles. In general, the results of this study showed that iron oxide and graphene oxide nanocomposites increase their antibacterial effect.

Honey is a natural sweet substance which the physico-chemical properties and antioxidants of honey are depended to the kinds of plant and flower in each region. Therefore, it is required to know components of each. The main aim of current study was to investigate the physiochemical and antioxidant properties of 32 different samples from different regions (South, central, North and Northwestern) of Iran. Thus, physiochemical tests such as moisture content, pH, acidity, Ash content, reducing sugar before hydrolysis, sucrose, HMF on honey samples were done. Also the total amount of phenolic compounds using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH method. The collected data were coded and analyzed through SPSS by applying one-way ANOVA.The results depicted significant (P<0.05). The obtained range values of each test is as follows: The range of pH was 4.06-4.39, acidity 8-20 mEq/kg, moisture 14.9-18.8%, ash 0.2-0.6%, HMF 4.49-17.55 mg/kg, reduced sugar 71.42-80.88%, sucrose 1.7-4.88%, DPPH 32.37-74.77% and phenolic content was 12.69-54.66 mg/100g. We found significant differences (P < 0.05) in pH, acidity, moisture, ash, HMF, DPPH and phenolic content between different regions of producing honey but not with sucrose and reduced sugar. Our results are consistent with previous findings and CODEX standards.

Ecotourism if considered as a responsible trip to natural areas will preserve the environment and establishes a comfortable life for local people. In other words, ecotourism deals with multifaceted goals of environmental protection, respect for local communities and promotion of socio-cultural and economic components of the host community, which align with the concept of sustainable development. On the other hand, ecotourism is one of the main components in the formation and development of a sustainable economy. The special geographical location and diversity of natural phenomena have made Iran the fifth country in terms of natural diversity in the world. However, despite having many natural attractions, the country's ecotourism has faced various problems and obstacles in attracting tourists, which has prevented its expansion. Accordingly, in this article, as much as possible, after defining ecotourism, the opportunities, challenges and effective solutions for the development of ecotourism in the country are examined.