First Record of the Heart Sea Urchins Metalia persica (Coppard, 2008) from the Coral Reef Region, Marine Waters of Iraq

Abstract

In the present article we report a first record of the heart sea urchin Metalia persica (Coppard, 2008) from the recently discovered coral reef in the coastal waters of Iraq. Four specimens of this echinoid were collected by diving during June 2014 and June 2015. This work is a part of larger programme on the identification and some other interesting observations of the macrobenthos living in the coral reef region of Iraq.

Keywords: Sea urchin, Metalia persica, coral reef, Iraq, first record.